NCAA women's volleyball tournament
Thursday-Saturday: First and second rounds.
Dec. 8-9: Regional semifinals and finals.
Dec. 14, 16: Final Four in Kansas City, Mo.
Top four seeds: No. 1 Penn State, No. 2 Florida, No. 3 Stanford, No. 4 Kentucky.
Conference breakdown: The Pac-12 led all conferences with nine tournament teams. The Big Ten was second with eight.
Defending champion: Stanford.
Gophers begin at home
When/where: Friday-Saturday, Maturi Pavilion.
First-round schedule Friday: Northern Iowa (26-8) vs. Louisville (24-6), 4:30 p.m.; Gophers (26-5) vs. North Dakota (30-7), 7 p.m.
Tickets: General public on sale Tuesday morning for all-session passes. Premium chairback $60, reserved chairback $35, bench $25.
The remaining schedule is favorable, but their hopes of a late-season run were dulled by a home loss to the Terrapins.
