K-State volleyball headed back to NCAA Tournament

The Kansas State volleyball team is headed back to the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season.

This time, it won’t have to travel to play its first postseason game.

The Wildcats earned the No. 14 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and will open against Lipscomb at 7:30 p.m. on Friday at Bramlage Coliseum. If they win that game, they will face the winner of Missouri State and Ohio State in the second round.

K-State last hosted NCAA Tournament games in 2008.

The Buckeyes could be a dangerous opponent. They went 20-12 in the regular season, and gave top-seed Nebraska one of its two losses. But the Wildcats were excited about the draw, as the team erupted into cheers when its segment of the bracket was revealed Sunday evening.

They were selected as a host team coming off a strong 20-9 season in which they finished fourth in the Big 12 standings at 9-7.

Kansas, which went 26-2 and won the conference championship, will host Samford at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. They Jayhawks are the No. 5 overall seed, their highest in program history. With a victory, Kansas will advance to take on the winner of Northern Iowa and Creighton.

This story was originally published November 27, 2016 at 8:41 PM with the headline "K-State volleyball headed back to NCAA Tournament."