Post-Season Guide | VIDEO: Practice In College Station

COLLEGE STATION, Texas—The No. 7 University of Hawai'i women's volleyball team will head to College Station, Texas to face TCU (19-9, 9-7 Big 12) in the first round of the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Tournament on Friday, December 4 at 4:30 p.m. (CST).  The Horned Frogs are an at-large team out of the Big 12 Conference. The Rainbow Wahine will be the only non-Texas team in their section of the draw as the other half of Hawai'i's bracket will pit the host school, the No. 10-seeded, SEC Champion, Texas A&M Aggies  (22-6, 15-2 SEC) against the Southland Conference champions, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (31-4, 16-0 Southland). The two A&M teams will face off at 6:30 p.m. (CST) following the UH vs. TCU match on Friday. It is Texas A&M Corpus Christi's first ever appearance in the NCAA tournament.
 
Hawai'i earned the Big West Conference's automatic bid after going undefeated in league action with a 16-0 record en route to capturing it's eighth BWC title and 24th overall conference crown.  It is UH's 22nd-straight appearance in the NCAA tournament and its 34th overall post-season appearance. The Rainbow Wahine have won 21-straight matches (it's longest streak since winning 26-straight matches in 2011), including its last six conference matches on the road. UH has not lost a match since falling to UCLA on Sept. 6 in four sets.

Hawai'i continues to lead the NCAA with 3.29 blocks per set and in correlation, UH is ranked No. 5 in opposing hitting percentage (0.141) nationally. The Rainbow Wahine are also ranked No. 9 with a .288 team hitting percentage. In the Big West, the 'Bows were ranked No. 1 in service aces per set (1.51), assists per set (13.01), blocks per set, hitting percentage, kills per set (14.11), opposing hitting percentage, and team total blocks (310.5).

Newly minted Big West Player of the Year, Nikki Taylor will lead the UH charge. The junior opposite leads the Rainbow Wahine with 392 kills, 4.36 kills per set, and 39 service aces. She is also No. 2 on the team with 183 digs and 109 blocks. Joining Taylor on the battle front is senior middle hitter Olivia Magill, who led the conference in both hitting percentage (.412) and blocks per set (1.53) which also ranks her No. 7 in the NCAA. Magill is averaging 2.59 kills per set and has 236 kills thus far. Setting the table for the UH attack is junior Tayler Higgins, who has dished out 762 assists (9.90 p/s) this season. She also is second on the team with 24 service aces and third with 174 digs. Anchoring the UH defense is sophomore libero Savanah Kahakai who leads UH with 354 digs.
 
Hawai'i Post-season History:
-34th NCAA Tournament Appearance - 22nd consecutive
-Three NCAA Championships (1982, 1983, 1987); One AIAW Championship (1979)
-NCAA Champion Runner-Up (1988, 1996)
-Nine Final Four Appearances
-Overall NCAA Record - 75-30 (.714)
-Against 2015 NCAA Field This Season - 3-1
-All-time record versus TCU (First round opponent) - 6-0
 
NCAA First and Second Round Information
Where: Reed Arena (College Station, Texas)
NCAA 1st & 2nd Round Schedule
    Friday, December 4
    Hawai'i vs. TCU 4:30 p.m. (CT)
    Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at Texas A&M 6:30 p.m. (CT)
    Saturday, December 5
    Winner of match 1 vs. Winner of match 2 - 6:30 p.m (CT)
Web Broadcast: All three matches of the First and Second Round at College Station will be broadcast on ESPN 3 and produced by 12^th Man Productions. Casey Richardson will be handling the play-by-play and Chelsea Reber will be the color analyst.
Radio: ESPN 1420 am will be airing the first round match live with Tiff Wells calling all the action.
Web Audio: A live audio stream can be found at espn1420am.com
Tournament Central Weblink:  12thman.com/ncaavolleyball

TICKET INFORMATION:
http://www.12thmanfoundation.com/ticket-center/volleyball.aspx
All-Session:
Reserved Adult: $16
General Admission-Adult: $12
General Admission-Student: $5
Free for children under age two
Single Day (available starting Friday):
Reserved Adult: $9
General Admission-Adult: $7
General Admission-Student: $3
Free for children under age two