RAMS READY FOR FIRST NCAA TOURNAMENT APPEARANCE 12-1-05 Live Audio Live Stats VCU Post Season Guide Complete NCAA Tournament Bracket Peterson Gets It Done Chapel Hill, N.C. – The wait is over. Virginia Commonwealth University will make its NCAA Women’s Volleyball Tournament debut Friday when it meets Purdue at 5 p.m. at the Dean E. Smith Center. The Rams (22-11) earned their first tourney bid Nov. 20 after defeating Towson, 3-2, for the Colonial Athletic Association Championship, the Rams’ first conference title since 1985. VCU is led by All-CAA junior outside hitter Ludmila Francescatto and her 3.42 kills per game, junior middle blocker Melissa Peterson (.303 attack %, 1.03 blocks per game) and senior libero Griselle Lopez Pereira (3.89 digs per game). Under the direction of first year coach James Finley, VCU has improved by 16 wins from 2004, the nation’s second biggest improvement. Purdue (23-8) is ranked 21 st in the latest CSTV/AVCA Division I Coaches poll and has drawn the 13 th overall seed in the 64-team tournament. They are led by senior setter Renata Dargan, who has dished out 12.68 assists per game this season, as well as 1.85 digs and 0.84 blocks. The Boilermakers placed fifth in the highly competitive Big Ten this season. This will be the first meeting between the two schools. Coastal Carolina (30-1) and host North Carolina (23-9) meet at 7 p.m. in Friday’s other match-up. The winners will meet Saturday at 6 p.m. for the right to move on to College Station, Tex. for the Texas Region semifinal. Live audio of the match will be available via the internet at vcurams.vcu.edu/multimedia.