The Minnesota volleyball team will host the NCAA Regional for only the second time in school history, and the first time at the Sports Pavilion. Minnesota last hosted the NCAA Regionals in 1993 at Williams Arena. That year, the Golden Gophers lost to Notre Dame, who eventually lost to Penn State in the regional finals. This year, the Golden Gophers enter the NCAA Regionals as the No. 1 seed in the region. Minnesota will take on Georgia Tech, who upset the No. 4 seed UC Santa Barbara in Atlanta, Ga. on Dec. 4. That matchup will take place on Friday, Dec. 10 at approximately 7 p.m. The first matchup of the Regional Semifinals will pit No. 2 Ohio State against No. 3 Tennessee at 5 p.m. The winner of the two matches will play in the Regional Finals on Saturday, Dec. 11 at 7 p.m. That match will be telecast live on CSTV. Minnesota brings a 30-4 record into the NCAA Regionals. Ohio State enters the regionals with a 29-3 record, while Tennessee leads the regional in victories at 32-2. Georgia Tech brings a 27-6 overall into Friday's matchup with Minnesota.

With a 3-0 victory over Yale on Friday, Dec. 3, Minnesota advanced to its fifth "Sweet Sixteen" in the last six seasons. The Golden Gophers became one of only seven teams to advance to five or more NCAA Regionals since 1999. Minnesota joins USC, Stanford, UCLA and Florida as one of five teams to advance to five NCAA Regionals since 1999. Only Nebraska and Hawai'i have advanced to the NCAA Regionals in every season since 1999. Ohio State and Penn State join the Golden Gophers on a list of only 12 teams to advance to four NCAA Regionals since 1999.

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