ITHACA, N.Y. – The NCAA Women's Volleyball Selection Committee announced the 64-team field for the upcoming 2021 Division III Championship and Ithaca College was one of 20 at-large teams chosen to compete for a national title this season. Ithaca will be making its sixth straight appearance in the national tournament and 23rd all-time as the Bombers will head to Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Mich. this weekend. IC will play Wisconsin-Whitewater in the opening round.

INTERACTIVE BRACKET

ITHACA IN THE NCAA PLAYOFFS: The Bombers are 29-24 all-time in the NCAA Tournament dating back to 1982. IC has reached the national semifinals three times in program history – 1994, 1995 and 2017. The Bombers have also been to the quarterfinals on three other occasions – 1998, 1999 and 2018. This will be IC's 23rd all-time appearance in the national tournament.

REGIONAL INFORMATION:

Thursday, November 11 – First Round

Calvin vs. Penn State Behrend
Wittenberg vs. St. John Fisher
Otterbein vs. Westminster
Wisconsin-Whitewater vs. Ithaca

Friday, November 12 – Second Round

Calvin/PSU Behrend vs. Wittenberg/St. John Fisher
Otterbein/Westminster vs. Wisconsin-Whitewater/Ithaca

Saturday, November 13 – Regional Final

Semifinal winners

ITHACA VS. THE REGIONAL FIELD: The only opponent IC played within this regional was St. John Fisher on September 3, which resulted in a 3-2 win for Fisher.

ITHACA VS. THE NCAA FIELD: The Bombers played a total of 15 matches against the NCAA field. IC played twice against Clarkson, Cortland, Juniata and Scranton. Ithaca also played Bowdoin, Colorado College, Christopher Newport, Johns Hopkins, New York University, RIT and St. John Fisher.

THE 2021 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP: A total of 64 teams will compete in the tournament running from Nov. 12-20. Host institutions will hold regional play on campuses across the country from November 11-14. Advancing teams will move onto the national quarterfinals the following weekend, and the final will be held at Francis Fieldhouse in St. Louis, Missouri on November 20.

ITHACA LEADERS: The Bombers earned an at-large bid after going 16-13 this season against one of the toughest schedules in Division III. IC played five nationally ranked teams on the year and a total of 19 matches against regionally ranked opponents.

Jaelyn Hershberger paces IC with 229 kills on the season, while Jamie Koopman is second on the squad with 222 kills. Five other Bombers, Paris Buckner (152), Aleka Darko (121), Faith Sabatier (119), Jennifer Pitts (118) and Camryn O'Leary (117) have all surpassed 100 kills on the season.

Distributing assists off the kills for IC are Peyton Miller (605) and Laura Severance (435). Jordyn Lyn Hayashi has also dished out 107 assists from the back row, to go along with 464 digs.

Buckner lead the Bombers with 90 total blocks on the season, while Koopman is second with 76. Pitts has 58 blocks to her credit and Darko has posted 50 blocks.

Four Bombers have surpassed 30 aces on the year as well – Julia Costa (37), Miller (36), Severance (35) and Buckner (31).

More information on the regional will be posted later this week.