Sun Devil volleyball enters NCAA tournament as 3-seed: Game predictions and more

Arizona State volleyball is having one heck of a season this year. After clinching sole possession of the Big 12 championship last week, the team heard its name called on Selection Sunday as part of the NCAA tournament field.

The Sun Devils enter the bracket as a three-seed and the school will host the opening two rounds of the tournament for the four teams in the connected regional.

ASU will open its tournament journey against New Hampshire on Friday and if it emerges victorious, would await the winner of the six-seeded Texas A&M Aggies and Colorado State.

The program will be participating in its second consecutive NCAA tournament and the 20th all-time. The Sun Devils have never won a national title but made it as far as the regional semi-final in 1994 and 1995 as a four-seed.

How far can ASU go in the NCAA volleyball tournament?

ASU (29-2) should have relatively no problems getting past New Hampshire (18-9) on Friday, it'll be taking on the winner of Texas A&M v. Colorado State that'll be a bigger challenge.

The six-seeded Aggies (19-7) are favored to come out of that matchup but ASU, which boasts the 17th best hitting percentage in the nation, should have the upper-hand on its home court.

Who would await the Sun Devils in the regional semi-finals at that point is yet to be seen but two-seed Wisconsin and seven-seed Georgia Tech would be the likely suspects.

To defeat either one at that stage would send the program farther into the postseason than its ever been since the team entered Division I in 1973.

National title hopes aren't necessarily far fetched, considering ASU is ranked No. 8 nationally in the AVCA coaches poll, but getting past the second round will still be a tough challenge given the program's legacy.