KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Western Michigan volleyball team earned an at-large bid into the 2011 NCAA Tournament and will face Washington in Minneapolis in the first round on Friday, Dec. 2.

This is the 11th bid for the WMU volleyball program and first since advancing to the Sweet 16 in 2008 after knocking off Dayton and Tulane that year and will look for the same effort in 2011.

"We were cautiously optimistic but we knew the body of work we put together and the strength of our conference, which was proven by four Mid-American Conference programs earning bids, would help our cause," commented head coach Colleen Munson.

The MAC saw tournament champion Central Michigan as well as Ball State, Northern Illinois and the Broncos earn spots in this year's tournament, one more than in 2008 when WMU was in the field.

The Broncos gathered as a team to watch the NCAA Tournament selection special on ESPNU at 6 p.m.  WMU was included in the second bracket unveiled.  Northern Illinois is also in the Minneapolis regional.

Western Michigan will face the University of Washington (23-7) out of the PAC 12, a conference that boasts seven teams in this year's field.  The Huskies finished tied for fourth with Stanford.  This will be the first ever meeting between the two programs.

A win for WMU would match them against either North Dakota State (25-8) or 13-seed and regional host Minnesota (18-11).  WMU has never faced NDSU either but has faced the Golden Gophers twice in program history.  The Broncos fell to Minnesota (0-2) at a neutral site on Sept. 26, 1980 but earned a home victory (3-1) on Nov. 18, 1988.

"We need to appreciate where we were from the beginning of the season to the end of the season.  We've had ups and downs and we told the team to hold onto the lessons we have learned this year," added Munson.

The Broncos were stopped in the quarterfinals of the MAC Tournament by CMU but rallied for a 3-0 sweep of Valparaiso on Saturday to close out the regular season and solidify its strength among the prospective at-large teams.

The only member of the Bronco volleyball team that experienced the NCAA Tournament in 2008.  Ashley Turnage was a freshman when the Broncos made their tournament run and now she is back as a senior.

"This means a lot.  I am so excited because as a freshman I was on the sidelines and now I can be more a part of it," commented Turnage.  "I learned a lot and it is pretty cool to start and end my collegiate career on this stage."

Click the graphic below to view the interactive bracket.  More information regarding the 2011 NCAA Volleyball Tournament will be made available at www.wmubroncos.com.