Nov. 23, 2011

PRINCESS ANNE, Md. - After winning the school's first ever Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Volleyball Championship, MEAC Coach of the Year Don Metil, his staff and players will watch the NCAA Tournament live selection show on November 27, this Sunday, at 6:00 p.m. at Uno's Chicago Grill in Fruitland, Md. The 30-minute live selection show will be broadcast on ESPNU and will announce the 64 team field for the 2011 NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship.

Friends and fans are encouraged to stop by beginning at 5:30 p.m. and watch the show with the Hawks.

UMES qualified for the tournament by winning the MEAC's automatic berth last Saturday in Baltimore, defeating Florida A&M 3-2. The Hawks were a perfect 12-0 in conference play and lost only one match all season to a MEAC opponent, their opener in Florida against Bethune-Cookman. In fact, UMES never lost at home or on the road this season, only on neutral courts, to post a 24-6 record and have won 19 straight matches. They currently have the nation's fourth longest home winning streak.

Locations for the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament will be announced during the Sunday afternoon telecast. Those matches will take place at campus locations Dec. 1-4. The 2011 Division I Women's Volleyball Championship Finals will be held Dec. 15 and 17 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

As a conference, the MEAC has a pair of wins in the NCAA Tournament. Morgan State got a play-in round win over Grambling in 1997 and Florida A&M topped Winthrop in 2003 in the opening round.

For all the fans that cannot make the watch party, the Department of Athletics and Auxiliary Enterprises will sponsor a celebration for the team the following evening, Monday, November 28 on campus in the Student Services Center (SSC) rotunda at 5:00 p.m.

At the on-campus event, the 2011 MEAC Volleyball Champions will be honored, light appetizers will be provided and it is open to the public. Following a few remarks, the video of the selection show from the previous night and the match footage from the championship win over FAMU will be shown.