WSU volleyball team earns NCAA bid

The 25th-ranked Washington State volleyball team received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament Sunday.

The Cougars (21-11, 11-9 for fifth place in the Pac-12), will play the Marquette Golden Eagles (23-8), runners-up in the Big East Conference, in the first round Thursday at 3 p.m. PST in Madison, Wis.

No. 3 seed Wisconsin (25-4) plays Howard (26-5) at 5 in the other first-round match at the Wisconsin Field House (capacity 6,012).

The winners advance to the second round on Friday at 5 p.m.

This is the 11th trip to the NCAA tournament for WSU and the first under sixth-year head coach Jen Greeny.