NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College volleyball team opens the 2023 NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championship by facing No. 14-ranked Washington University in St. Louis at Cornell College's Small Athletic and Wellness Center on Thursday.

St. Olaf (21-9) received an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament during Monday's NCAA Selection Show and will begin the eight-team regional against WashU in the first match of the day at 11:30 a.m. The Oles are the No. 6 seed in the regional, while the Bears are the No. 3 seed.

Single-session tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for senior citizens and students, $5 for children ages 3-12, and free for children under the age of two. All-session tickets are $20 for adults, $12 for senior citizens and students, $8 for children ages 3-12, and free for children under the age of two. Tickets must be purchased on site at the entrance of the Small Athletic and Wellness Center. Live video and live statistics will be available throughout the regional as well.

The other first-round matchups on Thursday are: second-seeded UW-Whitewater against seventh-seeded Coe College at 2 p.m., the top-seeded University of Northwestern against eighth-seeded Edgewood College at 4:30 p.m., and fourth-seeded Cornell College against fifth-seeded MIllikin University at 7 p.m. The winners of the first two matches will meet on Friday, Nov. 17 at 4:30 p.m., followed by the winners of the second two matches at 7 p.m. The regional championship match will be held on Saturday, Nov. 18 at 5 p.m.

St. Olaf is in the NCAA Tournament for the 12th time in program history and the first time since 2019 (1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2009, 2010, 2019, 2023). The Oles hold a 12-11 all-time record in the national tournament and have appeared in the quarterfinals three times (1994-96), finishing as high as third in 1996. St. Olaf has won at least one match in six of its previous 11 national appearances, including winning multiple matches four times (1994-96, 2010).

WashU is making its 35th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, which is the second-highest total of any NCAA Division III women's volleyball program, trailing only Juniata College's total of 41. The Bears' total of 105 NCAA Tournament victories is also the second-highest total nationally (Juniata – 119) and their 10 national titles (1989, 1991-96, 2003, 2007, 2009) are three more than any other program (UC San Diego – 7). Like St. Olaf, WashU earned one of 22 at-large bids into the 64-team field following a 23-9 season that included four top-25 wins. The Bears finished sixth at the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championships after falling to Case Western Reserve University and Carnegie Mellon University on either side of a win over Brandeis University.

Thursday's first-round match will be the 10th meeting between St. Olaf and WashU in women's volleyball and the first since 2010. The Bears have won eight of the previous nine, with the Oles' lone win coming in five sets on Sept. 1, 2000. St. Olaf and WashU have met twice previously in the NCAA Tournament, with the Bears claiming a four-set win in the semifinals in 1996 and a three-set win in the regionals in 2002.