The Fort Valley State Wildcats men’s volleyball team received its first ever bid to the NCAA Tournament on Sunday afternoon. The NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championship is decided amongst Division I and Division II programs, unlike traditional college tournaments. Fort Valley State stands to make a big splash for HBCU volleyball in the tournament, because they will face the No. 1 seed UCLA Bruins in the opening round.
The announcement of Fort Valley State receiving the No. 8 seed was made on Sunday during the the NCAA Men’s Volleyball Selection Show. Only eight teams were selected for the tournament and the Wildcats are the sole HBCU program in the tournament.
The quarterfinal matchup will happen on April 30 and will be played at Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California. UCLA will defend the national championship after defeating Hawaii last season 3-1, marking the 20th championship in program history.
Fort Valley Sate played UCLA in Los Angeles earlier this season, losing 3-0. It is noted however that the Wildcats were missing three players during that match, including two All-SIAC players. The Wildcats are hoping the full squad will result in a different outcome against the defending champions.
FVSU finished its third regular season in HBCU Volleyball history 10-0 in the SIAC, and 17-8 overall. This season’s win total doubles the combined program victories that Fort Valley achieved in its first two seasons.
FVSU earned the SIAC’s automatic berth after defeating Central State in the SIAC Championship last week. Leading the way was Isaiah Fedd who earned the Tournament MVP honors following a team-best 13-kill performance. Both the SIAC Regular Season MVP, Jaxon Hicks, and All-SIAC First Team, Chey Cooper, joined him on the SIAC All-Tournament Team. Hicks recorded six kills, seven digs and three service aces, while Cooper had a double-double of 10 kills and 13 digs to go with three aces, two assists and a block.
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