Monday afternoon, the Wisconsin women's volleyball team was named the sixth-overall seed in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's 2001 Women's Volleyball Division I Championships.
Due to the high ranking, the Badgers (25-3, 19-1) were selected to host the first and second rounds of the NCAA National Championship Tournament. Wisconsin will host in-state rival UW-Milwaukee, Notre Dame and Michigan State Nov. 30 and Dec. 1.
If Wisconsin advances to the regionals, slated for Dec. 7 and 8, the Badgers would travel to Palo Alto, Calif., should third-seed Stanford advance to the third round.
Regardless of where UW plays, senior middle blocker Sherisa Livingston said there is only one goal for the Badgers.
\I want to win a National Championship and so does everyone else [on the team],"" Livingston said.
This year's NCAA Championships will have a different flavor than previous tournaments. Partly due to the events of Sept. 11, the opening rounds of the Tournament were put together in order to ease travel concerns.
With most teams possibly playing a rival school as early as the second round, senior setter Lizzy Fitzgerald said that intrigue is higher for these earlier matchups.
""All the Texas [schools] are together, a lot of the West Coast teams are together and we're facing [UW-Milwaukee] right away,"" Fitzgerald said. ""I think it is going to be a really exciting tournament. Nobody is going to have an easy road, and it will be very interesting.""
Tickets for this weekend's games are available at the UW Ticket Office at the Kohl Center or online at uwbadgers.com. A two-day reserved seat for the weekend is $12.
