NCAA Bracket

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. -- For the 10th straight season, the Christopher Newport volleyball team will compete for a national championship as the Captains earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and will kick off their postseason run on Friday at 12:30 p.m. against Johns Hopkins at Mary Washington's Rosner Arena.
 
Entering the playoffs with a 25-9 record, CNU has now advanced to the national playoffs every year since 2007, including five regional championships and a pair of Final Four appearances. Overall, the program has reached the NCAA Tournament 14 times. This year marks the team's first trip as an at-large selection.
 
Christopher Newport will kick off the playoffs with a first-round bout against Johns Hopkins, who earned an automatic berth after winning the Centennial Conference title. Mary Washington, Cabrini, Randolph-Macon, Stevenson, Juniata, and Meredith round out the eight-team regional.
 
The winner of the regional will advance to the NCAA Championships, which will be held at the Kolf Sports Center in Oshkosh, Wisconsin from November 17-19.
 
The Captains are led by a decorated senior class, which will be making its fourth consecutive appearance in the national playoffs. Two-time All-American Hannah Miller finished the regular season ranked second in the CAC with a 1.09 blocks-per-set average and third with a .302 hitting percentage. Meanwhile, Maddie McCann leads the team and ranks fourth in the league with 335 kills, while Rachel Close has pocketed 494 digs, which ranks as the 10th-highest single-season total in program history.
 
Rounding out the seniors, reigning first-team All-American Briana Sutton is averaging 2.80 kills-per-set since returning to the court last month, including an 11-kill outburst in the CAC championship match. Evelyn Harper has also helped anchor the squad's serve-receive unit and sports a team-best .980 reception percentage.
 
Among the underclassmen, freshman Riley Garrison ranks second in the CAC with a .319 hitting percentage, Hope Webb is second in the league in assists (922) and fifth in aces (45), and Katie Piper boasts a 2.24 kills-per-set mark.

The Captains enter the tournament having won nine of their last 11 matches to round out the regular season. The squad is certainly battle-tested against elite competition as Christopher Newport has faced 11 teams that earned a trip to the NCAA Tournament, including Regional opponents Johns Hopkins, Juniata, Mary Washington, and Stevenson.
 
---CNU---