AMHERST, N.Y. - The Daemen College women's volleyball team will open NCAA tournament play by facing sixth-seeded American International College at 12 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 15. Match times for the 2018 NCAA Division II Women's Volleyball East Region Championship were announced today. The regional tournament is being hosted by the University of New Haven at Charger Gymnasium from Nov. 15-17.

Daemen is the No. 3 seed in the region after capturing the program's first-ever East Coast Conference Championship this past weekend. First round matchups were announced on the NCAA Division II Women's Volleyball Championship Selection Show late Sunday evening. Daemen's first round matchup features a rematch of the 2016 regional championship match. 

The full schedule for the East Region Championship at Charger Gymnasium is as follows...
 

Thursday, Nov. 15
12:00 PM	No. 3 Daemen vs. No. 6 American International
2:30 PM	No. 2 Adelphi vs. No. 7 Southern Connecticut
5:00 PM	No. 1 New Haven vs. No. 8 Saint Anselm
7:30 PM	No. 4 Molloy vs. No. 5 Holy Family
Friday, Nov. 15
5:00 PM	Semifinal #1 - Daemen/American International winner vs. Adelphi/Southern Connecticut winner
7:30 PM	Semifinal #2 - New Haven/Saint Anselm winner vs. Molloy/Holy Family winner
Saturday, December 3
7:00 PM	Regional Finals - Winner of Semifinal #1 vs. Winner of Semifinal #2

The East Region Championship is one of eight regional tournaments that will be held across the country this week. The eight regional champions will reconvene Nov. 29-Dec. 1 for the national quarterfinals, semifinals and finals at the A.J. Palumbo Center in Pittsburgh, Pa. 

Daemen will enter tournament play with a 21-10 overall record.  The Wildcats captured the ECC regular season title with a 13-1 league mark, and then ousted the University of Bridgeport and Molloy College in successive conference tournament matches at Lumsden Gymnasium this past weekend. The Wildcats will be making their second NCAA tournament appearance since gaining full NCAA membership status in 2015. 

Should they earn a win in Thursday's opening round, the Wildcats would advance to face the winner of No. 2 Adelphi University and No. 7 Southern Connecticut State University at 5 p.m Friday. The other half of the bracket features No. 1 New Haven and No. 8 Saint Anselm College, as well as No. 4 Molloy and No. 5 Holy Family University. The regional champion will be crowned following the final match at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 17. 

Tournament host New Haven has already announced that all seven matches will be live streamed on the Charger Sports Network.

A full preview of Daemen's opening-round match will be posted at daemenwildcats.com later this week. 

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