NCAA volleyball tournament: Florida faces FAMU for openers

It's become a tradition for the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship: Florida will host at least the tournaments first and second-round matches this week.

The Gators extend their streak to 31 consecutive NCAA Championship appearances, the third-longest streak in the nation under the direction of coach Mary Wise.

Florida is a Top-16 seed for the 27th time in program history. As a top-16 seed, Florida has made 25 regional semifinals, 13 regional finals, eight national semifinals and two national finals.

Florida (20-8) will face Florida A&M (25-6) at 7 p.m. today in the O'Connell Center, preceded by Miami (24-4) vs. Sun Belt Conference champ South Alabama (25-6) at 4:30 p.m. The winners will face off Friday at 7 p.m.

The Gators are 14-0 against the opening-round field and 7-7 against the NCAA tournament teams. Wise boasts a 76-30 (.717) record all-time in the tournament, with all of her postseason appearances coming with the Gators.

UF's match will air on ESPN+ and can also be heard on the airways of ESPN 98.1 FM/850-AM.

Florida holds a 11-0 series advantage over the SWAC champions Rattlers (25-6), including a 4-0 record in the NCAA Tournament. The last time these two squads faced off was a three-set victory for the Gators on Sept. 15, 2017 (25-14, 25-21, 25-9).

Tickets for the first two rounds are available online and at the Gator Ticket Office (352-375-4683), located between Gates 1 & 2 of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.