The Colorado College volleyball team earned its 11th consecutive NCAA tournament appearance and will play Christopher Newport University in a first-round match at 2 p.m. Thursday in San Antonio, Texas.
The Tigers finished the regular season with a 26-11 record and were an at-large selection.
The Captains earned an automatic bid by winning the USA South tournament and will carry a 33-6 record into the match.
The seeds in the South Region at Trinity University are: 1. Emory University; 2. Trinity University; 3. Southwestern University; 4. Christopher Newport; 5. Colorado College; 6. University of Texas at Dallas; 7. Webster University.
Colorado College is making its 18th overall appearance in the NCAA playoffs, where the Tigers have a 7-17 record. CC has a 3-10 record under Rick Swan, who is in his 11th season as head coach.
CC’s most recent tournament victory was against Gallaudet University (26-30, 30-20, 30-16, 30-23) in first- round action at the University of La Verne.
The Tigers feature three players who received all-SCAC honors - senior outside hitter Anna Clithero, sophomore middle blocker Emily Perkins, and freshman opposite hitter Meredith Ballard.
Clithero, a first-team selection, ranked third in the conference averaging 3.23 kills per game and seventh with a .285 hitting percentage. She is the only player in school history to record more than 1,500 career kills and 1,500 career digs.
Perkins, who was named to the second team, finished the regular season ranked No. 6 in the conference with a .292 hitting percentage and a 3.04 kills-per-game average. She led Colorado College with 452 points (the sum of kills, blocks and service aces), as well as solo and total blocks. She was second on the team in kills and digs, and third with 32 service aces.
Ballard, a third-team selection, was second in the voting for SCAC Freshman of the Year. She finished third on the team with 243.5 points and a 1.76 kills-per-game average. She also was third with a 0.40 blocks-per- game average and fourth among the starters with a .247 hitting percentage.
Thursday’s match will be the first-ever between Colorado College and Christopher Newport in the tournament.