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Issued: November 7, 2005

BLUGOLD SOCCER, VOLLEYBALL GET NCAA ASSIGNMENTS

The UW-Eau Claire women's soccer team will meet Augustana College while the Blugold women's volleyball team will meet Lakeland College in their first round NCAA matchups this week.

The soccer team earned its first-ever NCAA berth by capturing the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament championship this past weekend with victories over UW-River Falls (2-0) and UW-Oshkosh (2-1). The Blugolds, now 15-2-4 for the season, also won the regular-season WIAC championship with a 6-0-2 mark.

This year, the NCAA tournament field was expanded to 60 teams but the Blugolds are the only representative from the WIAC.

The Blugolds will play their first round game at 7:30 p.m. Friday following a regional semifinal game at 5 p.m. between host Wheaton College (19-2) and Webster University of Missouri (17-3).

Augustana stands 15-4 for the season and is one of three teams selected from the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin. Wheaton won the CCIW title and is the defending NCAA Division III national champion.

In the most recent Central Region rankings, Wheaton is third, Eau Claire is fourth and Augustana is eighth. In the most recent national poll, Wheaton is sixth and Eau Claire is 24th. This year's Blugold team is only the fifth in the 17-year history of women's soccer to win as many as 15 games in a season. The 2002-03 Blugold team was 17-4-1, 2000-01 was 15-5, 1998-99 was 16-5-1 and 1991-92 was 16-2-1.

With the expansion to 60 teams in the NCAA volleyball tournament, the format has gone to 7 or 8-team regionals with eight regional champs advancing to a national championship tournament at Salem, Virginia, November 17-19.

The Blugolds, who are 28-4 for the season, finished runner-up in the WIAC tournament after finishing third in the WIAC regular-season standings with a 6-2 mark. The Blugolds were one of four WIAC teams to earn a berth in the Midwest Regional which is being hosted by UW-Oshkosh.

The Blugolds open play at 3:30 p.m. Thursday against Lakeland College which won the Lake Michigan Conference title for a fourth consecutive year. The Muskies are 23-15 for the season with six of their losses administered by WIAC opponents Whitewater, Oshkosh, La Crosse, Platteville and Stevens Point.

The Blugolds received the No. 2 seed in the eight-team regional after losing to UW-Platteville in the WIAC tournament championship match Saturday. The Pioneers, 28-7 on the season, grabbed the top seed and will face eighth-seeded St. Norbert, 30-6. In other first round games, third-seeded UW-Oshkosh, 35-4, will take on sixth-seeded Carthage College, 30-6, while fourth-seeded UW-Whitewater, 33-4, will battled fifth-seeded Elmhurst College, 31-9.

The regional semifinals are set for 4:30 and 7 p.m. Friday with the championship match at 7 p.m. Saturday.

The Blugolds are making their eighth NCAA tournament appearance in volleyball but their first since the 1997 campaign. They have a 5-7 post-season record and have reached the round of 16 three times.

Five of the teams in the Midwest Regional are ranked nationally in the most recent Division III CSTV/AVCA Coaches Poll. Whitewater was ranked fifth, Oshkosh eighth, Eau Claire 13th, Elmhurst 20th and Carthage 25th.

- TP -

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