The Gophers received an at-large bid to the NCAA women's soccer tournament Monday and will be host to South Dakota State at 6 p.m. Friday at Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium.
"Seeing our name announced on the selection show, we were all extremely thrilled and when we realized that we're actually hosting, I was shocked to be honest," coach Stefanie Golan said. "I felt pretty good that we were going to be in the tournament, but I did not expect to host the first round game, so we couldn't be more excited."
The Gophers (11-6-3), making their ninth tournament appearance, ended their season with a first-round loss to Rutgers in the Big Ten tournament. Also representing the Big Ten in the 64-team field are league champion Penn State, Rutgers, Northwestern and Ohio State.
• The Big Ten chose Gophers outside hitter Daly Santana as its player of the week for the second time this season. Setter Samantha Seliger-Swenson earned her fifth conference rookie of the week honor and seventh overall for the No. 4 Gophers.
Division III volleyball
Three MIAC teams — champion Gustavus and at-large entries St. Benedict and Bethel — will play in an NCAA regional Thursday at Wisconsin-Whitewater. Upper Midwest champion Northwestern also will play at Whitewater.
Division II soccer
Minnesota State Mankato earned a No. 2 seed and first-round bye in an NCAA women's soccer regional.
The Mavericks will be off until Sunday, when they will host the winner of a first-round match Friday pairing No. 3 seed Augustana and No. 6 Harding.
Top-seeded Central Missouri State, the other host team, will meet either fourth-seeded Winona State or fifth-seeded Minot State.
