After a 21-7 regular season record and a 11-5 record in SEC play, the Florida volleyball team were among the 64 teams selected to the 2024 NCAA Volleyball Tournament on Sunday.
The Gators, who dropped their final two games of the season to South Carolina and Georgia, respectively, were named the No. 6 seed in their region.
They will head to Lawrence, Kansas, where they will start the NCAA Tournament against NC State (16-12, 11-9 ACC). That first round matchup is set for Friday, Dec. 6th, at 5 p.m.
The winner of that matchup will then face either No. 3-seed Kansas (24-4, 15-3 BIG 12) or Colgate (19-10, 14-2 Patriot), who will play on Friday at 8:30 p.m. Those two teams faced earlier in the season on Sept. 1, where Kansas swept the match.
It is the 34th-consecutive time the Gators will appear in the tournament, which is the third longest streak in the nation only behind Penn State and Nebraska. All 34 of those times, the Gators advanced past the opening match.
Despite not facing either of the three teams yet this season, UF shares some common opponents with each.
NC State and Florida played four common opponents: both teams fell to Georgia Tech, while Florida defeated Missouri and Florida State, two teams NC State lost to. Meanwhile, NC State defeated South Florida, who handed UF its first loss of the season.
Also, Kansas and Colgate both played South Carolina: Kansas defeated them, while Colgate, like the Gators, were defeated by the Gamecocks. Kansas also beat UCF twice this season, and the Knights are the Gators most recent win on Oct. 23.
The top ranked team in the region is Louisville (25-5, 13-2 ACC). They also are the hosts of the NCAA Tournament Final Four, and are in line to host regionals if they make it through opening weekend.
Contact Max Bernstein at mbernstein@alligator.org. Follow him on X @maxbernstein23.
