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Nov. 17, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The University of Louisville has earned the No. 3 seed and will play No. 6 seed Syracuse on 3:30 Friday at the BIG EAST Championship Tournament hosted by Pittsburgh.

With the conclusion of conference play yesterday, the field is set for the 2008 BIG EAST Volleyball Championship starting Nov. 21 at the Fitzgerald Field House in Pittsburgh, Pa. St. John's and Cincinnati are the BIG EAST regular season co-champions, but the Red Storm will take the tournament's No. 1 seed due to their win against the Bearcats in the regular season.

St. John's (12-2 BIG EAST, 21-8 Overall) lost out on an outright BIG EAST regular season championship with its 3-1 loss to DePaul on Nov. 16, now the Red Storm will shift its focus to defending their 2007 BIG EAST Championship win in Milwaukee, Wis. St. John's is 4-4 all-time in BIG EAST Championships and beat Louisville 3-0 to win their first title in 2007.

Cincinnati (12-2 BIG EAST, 25-5 Overall) will be the No. 2 seed, and enters the championship as one of the league's hottest teams. The Bearcats won a pair of matches over the weekend to finish a perfect 14-0 at home, becoming only the second team in school history to go undefeated in games played on the Bearcat's campus. Entering the championship, Cincinnati has won 15 consecutive matches, which is tied for the second longest winning streak in school history.

Last year's BIG EAST Championship runner-up Louisville (11-3 BIG EAST, 15-10 Overall) receives the No. 3 seed with a strong performance down the stretch that negated a slow start in nonconference play. The Cardinals won their last BIG EAST Championship in 2006, and are historically strong in championship play with a 7-2 all-time record.

Connecticut (10-4 BIG EAST, 21-8 Overall) rounds out the top half of the tournament bracket with the No. 4 seed. The Huskies have neither won nor been runner-up in BIG EAST Championship history, sporting a 12-36 all-time record in the event. Helping them this year is the higher seed, after entering last years Championship as the No. 7 team.

The bottom half of the bracket consists of No. 5 seed Notre Dame (9-5 BIG EAST, 14-13 Overall), No. 6 seed Syracuse (8-6 BIG EAST, 17-14 Overall), No. 7 seed Pittsburgh (8-6 BIG EAST, 16-13 Overall) and No. 8 seed USF (7-7 BIG EAST, 17-12 Overall). Of the group, Pittsburgh leads the way in BIG EAST Championship success with an unprecedented 11 wins, the last coming in 2003.

After the four first round games on Nov. 21, starting at 10:00 a.m., the winners will face off in the semifinals on Nov. 22 at 1:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. The Nov. 23 title match will be televised live at 3:00 p.m. on ESPNU. The winner of the BIG EAST Championship will receive the league's automatic bid to the 2008 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship. Fans can follow all the action leading up to the title match live online through BIGEAST.tv.