The Huntsman Center better get ready for a little more volleyball.
Utah learned Sunday that it will host the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament for the fourth time in school history, as the Utes earned a No. 4 seed.
Utah’s first-round opponent will be the College of Charleston — the two teams will square off Thursday at 7:30 p.m. MST, following the opening match of the first round at the Huntsman between No. 5 seed Marquette and Florida Gulf Coast earlier that day at 4:30 p.m.
The winners of those two matches will meet in the second round on Friday at 7 p.m.
All three matches will be streamed on ESPN+.
“It’s just reflective of the body of work your team does. We had big wins and we had zero bad losses. This team found a way to win all the time,” Utah coach Beth Launiere said. “Wasn’t always easy. We didn’t win pretty all the time, but they always found a way to win against the teams that we should have beat. We had no bad losses, and we deserve the seed.”
It’s the 19th NCAA appearance for the Utah program, and the first since 2021.
“This team really deserves to be hosting here in Utah. This group is incredible, so good,” said fifth-year defensive specialist Vanessa Ramirez. “I’m just so happy for this team. Whatever happened last year, this is a good year for us.”
Last year, the Utes went 11-19 — but one year later, they’re back in the NCAAs under Launiere in her 35th year leading the program.
“It’s definitely been a huge turnaround for us. I think that all the work that we put in in the spring has definitely paid off,” said junior middle blocker Emrie Satuala. “We have a lot of the same girls, so it just been a little bit of maturity and experience, and I think it’s just been so cool to see that we were able to do this by just putting in the hard work, not by getting a bunch of new freshmen graduating, a bunch of players transfers, but just we did it ourselves.”
Though Utah and the College of Charleston have never played in volleyball before, there is one connection between the two schools.
Amelia Van Der Werff is a fifth-year middle blocker for the Utes, while her sister Olivia Mae Van Der Werff is a junior outside hitter for the Cougars from Charleston, South Carolina.
Utah (24-5) heads into the postseason on a seven-match winning streak, and that included a 3-0 sweep of BYU at the Huntsman Center on Nov. 8.
BYU earned a No. 5 seed in the NCAA tournament and will play Loyola-Chicago in the first round Thursday at 1:30 p.m. MST, on Purdue’s campus in West Lafayette, Indiana.
The Big 12 had six schools make the NCAAs. In addition to Utah and BYU, Arizona State — the league’s regular-season champion — was a No. 3 seed, Kansas a No. 3 seed, Baylor a No. 4 seed and TCU a No. 5 seed.
“We knew it was a good conference before we started the year,” Launiere said. “And it’s … one of the top conferences in the country for volleyball.”
College of Charleston, meanwhile, earned an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament by winning the Coastal Athletic Association championship match over Delaware on Nov. 23.
This will be the Cougars’ 10th NCAA appearance.
Utah has a record of 5-1 at home when hosting the first two rounds — the Utes advanced to the Sweet 16 in 2001 and 2017 when they hosted to start NCAA tournament play.
That accounts for two of Utah’s four Sweet 16 appearances, with the other two in 2008 and 2019.
The other time that Utah hosted the first and second round was in 2005, when the Utes lost in the second round.
For Utah senior outside hitter Lauren Jardine, there is significance in helping create a legacy at the U. — one that will now include being a part of a team that hosted the first and second rounds in the NCAAs.
“I think it’s awesome. I think creating a legacy for the girls to come after is really important to me. Being able to know that my teammates are taken care of when I’m gone, I think is really important,” she said. “And knowing that they knew how to work when I was here is amazing. And being able to work hard to make it back to the tournament is just one of those payouts.”