May 16, 2010

2010 NCAA Tournament Bracket

By Brian Davis, Assistant Media Relations Director

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - The Tennessee Lady Vol softball team (42-13) will host NCAA Regionals for the sixth consecutive campaign according to Sunday's announcement via ESPNU of the annual NCAA Tournament bracket. The Big Orange have been chosen as the No. 15 national seed and will welcome in three squads to Lee Softball Stadium over May 21-23 in the form of Mid-American Conference (MAC) Tournament champion Ball State (43-14, 21-5 MAC), Virginia (33-21, 13-7 ACC), the second place team out of the Atlantic Coast Conference, and the BIG EAST's third-place squad Louisville (39-17, 16-6 BIG EAST).

Virginia and Louisville will open the Knoxville Regional on Friday, May 21st, at 4 p.m. ET with Tennessee and Ball State slated for approximately 6:30 p.m. ET. Live stats will be provided via Gametracker through utladyvols.com.

"We're definitely excited to host the NCAA Regional at Lee Softball Stadium for the sixth straight season," Lady Vol co-head coach Ralph Weekly said. "All three teams traveling to Knoxville have won 30+ games, including several wins against Top 15 teams. All three programs feature outstanding coaches who have previously experienced NCAA Tournaments and each has a top-level pitcher with more strikeouts than innings pitched. This will be a very tough challenge for our ballclub."

If the Orange & White advance through to the NCAA Super Regionals for the fourth time in program history, they would face-off against Big 10 Conference power Michigan. The second-seeded Wolverines (46-6) will face Wright State (30-28-1) in their opening round contest while Notre Dame (45-10) faces Illinois State (32-18) in the other half of their bracket.

This visit to the "Big Dance" marks the eighth overall NCAA Regional trip (32-16 overall NCAA record) for the Lady Vols. It is also UT's seventh consecutive selection (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010) to the field of 64 under the guidance of co-head coaches Ralph and Karen Weekly. Tennessee has been to three Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City, Okla., where the Lady Vols finished third nationally in both 2005 & 2006 and second overall in 2007.

2010 Knoxville Regional

Friday, May 21

4 p.m. ET Virginia vs. Louisville (Game One)

6:30 p.m. ET Ball State vs. Tennessee (Game Two)

Saturday, May 22

1 p.m. ET Winner Game One/Winner Game Two (Game Three)

3:30 p.m. ET Loser Game One/Loser Game Two (Game Four)

6 p.m. ET Loser Game Three/Winner Game Four (Game Five)

Sunday, May 23

1 p.m. ET Winner Game Three/Winner Game Five (Game Six)

3:30 p.m. ET (if necessary) Rematch of Game Six