Virginia Earns At-Large Bid to NCAA Tournament; Faces No. 3 Seed North Carolina

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia women’s lacrosse team earned an at-large bid to the 2011 NCAA Tournament Sunday evening and will travel to third-seeded North Carolina for a first round game. The Cavaliers (9-8) will be unseeded and will face the Tar Heels (13-5) for a third time this year. Game day and time will be determined later.

The at-large bid marks the 16th-straight year that Virginia has participated in the NCAA Tournament, and 22nd overall. The Cavaliers hold an all-time record of 29-20 in the postseason and have played the second-most tournament games among any other team in the nation.

Under head coach Julie Myers, the Cavaliers have advanced to the NCAA Tournament all 16 years, while her squads hold an overall record of 22-14 in the tournament, winning the NCAA title in 2004.

Virginia has advanced to the final game of the tournament on nine occasions, winning it three times – 1991, 1993 and 2004.

The Cavaliers and Tar Heels have faced six times in the NCAA Tournament, including three of the last four years. UNC holds an overall record of 4-1 against Virginia in the tournament, including winning the last two meetings.

In the all-time series, North Carolina earned a slight 14-12 advantage with two victories over Virginia this year. The Tar Heels defeated the Cavaliers, 8-7, in Chapel Hill during the regular season (March 12), before knocking Virginia out of the ACC Tournament with a 16-5 victory (April 21) in Cary, N.C.

The winner of this weekend’s contest will advance to the quarterfinal round to face the winner of sixth-seeded Loyola vs. Massachusetts. The semifinals and finals of this year’s NCAA Tournament are scheduled for May 27-29 at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium in Stony Brook, N.Y.