Blazers Draw Stevenson In NCAA Tournament First Round

COMPLETE BRACKET

CHICOPEE, Mass. – After capturing the New England Collegiate Conference tournament title on Saturday, the Elms College men’s volleyball team learned on Monday that it will face Stevenson in the first round of the NCAA Division III Men’s Volleyball Tournament on April 20 at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J.

First serve on Friday will be at 6:00 p.m. and the winner will advance to the national quarterfinals to face Stevens with a trip to the Final Four on the line.

Elms (20-6) will bring a seven-match winning streak into the NCAA Tournament after claiming its third NECC title and first since 2012. Stevens (21-8) will put a nine-match winning streak on the line vs. Elms.

Stevenson and Elms shared two common opponents in 2018 including fellow tournament participants Springfield and Vassar. The Blazers and Mustangs were both swept by No. 1 Springfield while Elms picked up a 3-1 win at Vassar and Stevenson lost 3-0 to Vassar at a neutral site.

No. 3 Stevens will await Friday’s winner and if the Blazers advance it would set up a re-match of a Jan. 26 contest in which Stevens took a 25-21, 25-19, 25-18 victory.

Elms faced five of the 11 other teams who reached the 2018 NCAA tournament during the regular season, going 2-4. The Blazers split a pair of contests against Rivier and beat Vassar in four sets and lost to Kean, Stevens and Springfield.

In their only previous trip to the NCAA tournament, Elms fell in three sets to Baruch College in Manhattan, N.Y., in 2012.