WASHINGTON (November 30, 2017) – After winning their third consecutive Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Championship, Coach Shaun Kupferberg and the Howard University Women's Volleyball team return to the NCAA Tourney where they square off against No. 1 Penn State. First-serve is set for 7:30 p.m. in State College, Pa.
 
Fans can follow all the action via Tournament Central.
 
MATCHUP PREVIEWS
 
HOWARD
 
Sunday (Nov. 19), HU won its third consecutive MEAC tournament championship with a straight-set win over Florida A&M (FAMU). Howard made its fourth straight appearance in the title match while becoming the first program since FAMU won nine straight from 2001-09, to win three straight MEAC titles.
 
Overall, this will be Howard's fourth NCAA appearance. MEAC Player of the Year Khaila Donaldson, along with All-Conference selections Jessica Young and Tamia Dockery spearhead the Bison attack.
 
PENN STATE
 
For the 28th consecutive season, Penn State will serve as one of the 16 sites for the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament, this time as the No. 1 overall seed in the 2017 NCAA women's volleyball tournament.
 
Penn State has a 3-0 record all-time against Howard, with the last meeting coming in September 2016, where the Nittany Lions swept the Bison.
 
PITTSBURGH
 
For the second consecutive year, Pittsburgh will take part in the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Tournament as they face Virginia Commonwealth (VCU) in the first round. Pitt clinched a share of the 2017 ACC volleyball title with an 18-2 record in conference play.
 
Pitt will be appearing in its 15th NCAA tournament, marking just the second time the Panthers have earned a bid since 2004. In last year's postseason, Pitt opened the 2016 tournament with a win over No. 23 Dayton (3-1), before falling to No. 13 Penn State (3-1) at Rec Hall in State College, Pa.
 
VCU
 
VCU, fresh off its first Atlantic 10 Conference Championship, is headed to State College, Pa. to face ACC Champ Pitt in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
 
The Rams (30-2), who own the nation's longest active win streak at 27 consecutive matches, will be making its second NCAA Tournament appearance in program history. VCU also reached the NCAA Tourney in 2005 after claiming a CAA Championship.
 
LAST TIMEOUT
 
On Nov. 19, the Bison captured its third straight MEAC Title after sweeping the Florida A&M Rattlers (25-22, 25-19, 29-27) at the William P. Hytche Athletc Center. The victory also secured HU's 10th championship in program history.
 
Donaldson was named the tournament's Outstanding Performer after flirting with a double-double (nine kills and nine digs) while Young and sophomore Kira Porter made the All-Tournament team.
 
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
 
VCU-Pittsburgh is the other first-round match-up on Friday in State College. The winners of the two first-round matches will square off on Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
 
For more information, visit the Bison Athletics website at www.HUBison.com.