COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL: SE HOPES FLORIDA YIELDS 1ST NCAA WIN

California has not been kind to Southeast Missouri State University's volleyball squad as far as the NCAA Tournament is concerned, so Otahkian coach Cindy Gannon was pleased when the NCAA announced its 64-team championship field Sunday.

For the first time in school history, the Otahkians won't be headed to California for NCAA tourney play. Southeast will leave for Gainesville, Fla., Wednesday morning and face North Carolina at 4 p.m. CST Thursday.

The Otahkians were sent to California for their three previous NCAA tourney appearances -- and they lost in the first round all three times, although they very nearly pulled off a stunning upset last season before falling to Loyola Marymount 20-18 in the fifth and deciding game.

"We're excited," said Gannon. "I didn't want to go to California again. Now we're going to Florida and we'll see some different teams."

Southeast is part of the 16-team Pacific Region of the NCAA Tournament, which is broken down into four regions. Within each of those regions are four four-team sub-regionals.

The Otahkians (22-8) and North Carolina (26-7) are in a sub-regional with host Florida (27-4) and Arkansas-Little Rock (23-6). Thursday's first-round winners advance to Friday's second-round match, with that winner advancing to regional play Dec. 7-10 at a campus location to be determined.

While Southeast has dominated the Ohio Valley Conference over the past decade -- winning eight regular-season titles in 10 years and going undefeated in league play this season -- North Carolina has won the past two Atlantic Coast Conference championships and will be competing in its third straight NCAA tourney.

North Carolina advanced to second-round action in each of the past two seasons before being eliminated.

Southeast, which will also be making its third straight NCAA appearance, enters tourney play on a roll, having won 21 of its last 23 matches.