BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The St. Olaf College volleyball team will take on the University of Northwestern in the opening round of the 2025 NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championship on Thursday at the Shirk Center on the campus of Illinois Wesleyan University.

After receiving one of 21 at-large bids into the field, fifth-seeded St. Olaf (26-8) will match up with Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) champion and fourth-seeded Northwestern (23-7) in the third match of the first day of the eight-team regional at 4:30 p.m. The winner will advance to the regional semifinals to be played at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 21.

Earlier in the day on Thursday, third-seeded UW-Whitewater will play sixth-seeded Coe College at 11:30 a.m., followed by second-seeded Calvin University facing seventh-seeded Hanover College at 2 p.m. The final match of the day will see top-seeded and host Illinois Wesleyan play eighth-seeded Asbury University at 7 p.m. The winner of the Illinois Wesleyan-Asbury match will play the winner of the St. Olaf/Northwestern match on Friday.

Tickets for the regional may be purchased in-person or online and are available in all-session passes and single-event passes. Live video and live statistics will also be provided throughout the regional. Links are available on the regional homepage.

This season marks the 13th time (1993-98, 2000, 2002, 2009-10, 2019, 2023, 2025) that St. Olaf has qualified for the NCAA Tournament and the first time under second-year head coach Alicia Wood. The Oles are 12-12 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and are in search of their first win in the national tournament since 2010. St. Olaf has finished as high as third in the NCAA Tournament in 1996, which came after quarterfinal losses in each of the prior two seasons during a string of six consecutive appearances.

Northwestern is in the NCAA Tournament for the 14th time (2010-17, 2019-25), all of which have come in the last 15 seasons (not counting 2020). The Eagles are 19-13 all-time in the tournament and advanced to the national semifinals in both 2016 and 2022.

Thursday's first-round match will be the third meeting between the Oles and Eagles in the NCAA Tournament, with all three coming in the round of 64. St. Olaf edged Northwestern in a five-set classic (28-26, 25-23, 25-27, 23-25, 15-12) in 2010 before the Eagles claimed a four-set win (15-25, 26-24, 26-24, 25-23) in 2019. Earlier this season, Northwestern came back from two-sets-to-one down to edge St. Olaf in five sets (25-12, 18-25, 23-25, 25-11, 15-7) at the KTIS Classic on the Eagles' home court on Sept. 6.