Florida Volleyball To Participate in Runza/AVCA Showcase
Thursday, March 4, 2010 | Volleyball
The Florida volleyball team will participate in the prestigious Runza/American Volleyball Coaches Association College Volleyball Showcase to begin the 2010 campaign, the Lexington, Ky., based organization announced Thursday afternoon.
The showcase, which will be contested Aug. 28-29 at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb., will feature Southeastern Conference teams Florida and Kentucky and Big 12 Conference members Iowa State and Nebraska.
The Gators will face the Cyclones at 2 p.m. CT on Aug. 28 before squaring off with the Huskers at 4:30 p.m. CT on Aug. 29.
"It's an honor for our program to participate in the AVCA Showcase,” Florida head coach Mary Wise said. “We look forward to playing against two great teams in one of the best volleyball cities in the country."
Now in its 16th year, the Showcase continually proves to be the country's premier regular season collegiate volleyball tournament. Six of the Showcase's eight participating teams in the past two seasons have reached the NCAA Tournament round of eight later that same year; four of those six advanced to the national semifinals. This year's field promises to continue that tradition of excellence, as each of the four teams finished in the top 15 of the final 2009 AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25 Poll, as well as reached an NCAA Regional in 2009.
Florida, which finished the 2009 season with its 18th NCAA regional semifinal appearance in the last 19 years, will be appearing in the showcase – formerly the NACWAA Tournament – for the fifth time in program history and the first time since 2003.
The Qwest Center will host its fourth consecutive and fifth overall showcase in 2010. The venue, which played host to an NCAA-record crowd of 17,430 during the 2008 national semifinals, has also hosted the four highest-attended showcase sessions in the event's 15 years.
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2010 AVCA SHOWCASE (August 28-29 at Omaha, Neb.)
Saturday, Aug. 28
2 p.m. CT – Florida vs. Iowa State
4:30 p.m. CT – Nebraska vs. Kentucky
Sunday, August 29
2 p.m. CT – Kentucky vs. Iowa State
4:30 p.m. CT – Nebraska vs. Florida
END OF REPORT
