NCAA volleyball at Sports Pavilion
The Gophers will be home in the Sports Pavilion for first- and second-round play in the Lexington (Ky.) Regional this weekend.
Friday: Iowa State (18-9) vs. Colorado (17-13), 4:30 p.m.; Gophers (27-6) vs. Radford (25-9), 7 p.m.
Saturday: Winners play at 7 p.m. Winner of that match advances to the four-team regional on Dec. 13-14 in Lexington.
Notes: Minnesota is the 10th overall seed in the 64-team tournament. There are eight Big Ten teams in the field, including four others that are among the 16 seeds: Big Ten champion Penn State (2), Nebraska (8), Wisconsin (12) and Illinois (13). Defending NCAA champion Texas is the No. 1 overall seed.
The foe: Radford qualified as the champion of the Big South Conference tournament. The Highlanders are in the tournament for the first time since 2000. Minnesota beat Radford 3-1 in 2001 in their only previous meeting.
The stat: The Gophers are 17-1 in the first round in their previous NCAA appearances.
