The University of Miami volleyball team was unable to cap-off a dream season Sunday night as they found out they would not be continuing on to post-season play when the field of 64 bracket for the NCAA Tournament was revealed on ESPNU beginning at 10:15 pm. They were seeking just their second-ever visit to the field of 64 since reinstating the program in 2001.
At 10:57 pm as the final region was revealed, head coach Nicole Lantagne Welch tried to console her team who was upset that the third-ranked team in the league would not be continuing the season they worked so hard to produce on their way to collecting the best record (26-6) since 2002 for the Hurricanes program. Miami finished tied for third place with Clemson, while Duke and North Carolina shared the 2008 ACC Championship.
"We are extremely disappointed and surprised that we were not selected as an at-large team in this year's championship," commented Lantagne Welch, who led her team to their best finish in the ACC since 2004. "We felt that our résumé spoke for itself, and that our 26-6 season record--5-2 record against the NCAA field, third place ACC finish (just one match behind the champions), our solid RPI and our significant win out of conference was more than enough to warrant a bid."
North Carolina and Duke, co-champs of the ACC, as well as Clemson will represent the Atlantic Coast Conference in this year's NCAA Tournament. UNC and Duke travel, while Clemson will serve as a Regional site host. Miami swept the season series with Duke for the first time ever, while splitting the season series' with Clemson and UNC, respectively.
The other win against a team in the field of 64 was a 3-2 victory over San Francisco earlier in the year in the finals of the Asics/Coca-Cola Invitational hosted by USF.
"Our program has accomplished so many great feats this season, and it is just a shame that a memorable season would end this way," continued Lantagne Welch.
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