Molloy, Bridgeport Selected for NCAA Volleyball Championship

Molloy, Bridgeport Selected for NCAA Volleyball Championship

Indianapolis - The bracket for the NCAA Division II Volleyball Championship announced on Monday evening included East Coast Conference members Molloy and Bridgeport. The two schools are among 64 teams across the country that will compete for a National Championship.

Fresh off winning their second ECC Championship in three seasons, Molloy (25-4) has earned the No. 1 seed in the East Region. By earning the top seed, the Lions will host the East Regional in Quealy Gymnasium on their Rockville Centre, N.Y. campus.

The first round opponent in Molloy's third straight NCAA Championship appearance will be Long Island rival and No. 8 seeded, Adelphi (14-10). The Panthers have dominated the all-time series with 25 wins to six losses. However, Molloy swept Adelphi on October 16 in the schools' only meeting this season.

Bridgeport (24-7) earns an at-large bid and is the No. 3 seed after finishing as the ECC runner-up. The Purple Knights are back in the tournament for the first time since 2015. This is the ninth overall appearance in program history. Bridgeport's previous eight appearances came in consecutive seasons from 2008-2015.

The Purple Knights will open against No. 6 seed, Georgian Court (30-6). The Lions were the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Champions.

Other teams in the East Region bracket include No. 2 and NE10 Champion Bentley (26-5), No. 4 Saint Anslem (20-11), No. 5 New Haven (16-10), and No. 7 Holy Family (24-9).

Molloy finished with a 4-2 record against fellow regional participants, with three wins against Bridgeport and the aforementioned victory over Adelphi. The Lions fell in five sets on the road to both Bentley and New Haven.

Bridgeport was 3-6 against the other teams in the bracket. They took two-of-three from Saint Anselm and also topped Bentley. They dropped three to Molloy and also fell to Adelphi and New Haven.

Molloy is looking for their first-ever East Region Championship, while Bridgeport attempts to win for the second time, having previously done so in 2011.

First serve of the tournament will be on Thursday, December 5. The semifinals will follow on Friday, December 6. The tournament will wrap up with the regional final on Saturday, December 7.

To view the full NCAA Division II Volleyball Championship bracket, click here.