Tiger Volleyball Faces Juniata in NCAA Quarterfinals Thursday

San Antonio - The Trinity University Tigers volleyball team, led by 25th-year head coach Julie Jenkins, will play in the NCAA Division III quarterfinals Thursday in University Heights, Ohio.

John Carroll University is the site, as the 18th-ranked Tigers take on No. 1 Juniata (Pa.) at 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time. The winner will advance to Friday's semifinal, at 7 p.m., against the winner of No. 2 Wisconsin-Oshkosh and Christopher Newport (Va.). Saturday's NCAA Championship match is also slated for 7 p.m.

To learn more about this year's Tiger team, as well as additional details about Trinity's playoff history, check out the newest game notes.

The Tigers, (30-11), competing in their 18th consecutive NCAA postseason tournament, are making their fifth trip to the quarterfinals, the last in 2006. Trinity has advanced to the semifinals twice in school history, last reaching the final four in 2002. The Tigers defeated Juniata in the NCAA Third-Place match. In 1999, Trinity advanced to the Championship match against Central (Iowa). 

Juniata (34-3), the NCAA champion in 2004 and 2006, beat the Tigers 3-0 on Oct. 30 at the Trinity National Invitational in Sams Gym. In the NCAA playoffs, the Eagles beat the Tigers in the 2001 quarterfinals.

At last weekend's South Region Tournament at Georgetown, Texas,  fifth-seeded Trinity knocked off No. 4 Randolph-Macon, defending national champion and top seed Emory, and the hosts, the No. 2 Southwestern Pirates. Southwestern, ranked No. 12 in the nation, had beaten Trinity 3-1 in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference semifinals, played in Atlanta.