NORCECA

The Norceca beach volleyball commission has confirmed 14 tournament stops for 2010 that include: Cayman Islands, Trinidad & Tobago, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Canada, Cuba, United States, and five locations in Mexico: Chiapas, Colima, Puerto Vallarta, Tijuana, and Campeche. Two more tournaments are pending confirmation in El Salvador and Costa Rica, possibly bringing the total to 16 events.

The Norceca beach tour recently entered a newfound state of legitimacy within the professional beach volleyball community after the FIVB announced plans for a “World Cup,” to commence in 2010, that includes five Continental/Confederation Olympic berths. Norceca will facilitate the tournaments and qualification process for the Continental/Confederation berth awarded in the United States’ region of North, Central America and Caribbean.

“We are very excited about getting our Confederations and National Federations involved in the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Cup from the opening stages of the event,” said FIVB President Jizhong Wei. “The tournament will introduce the sport to an audience of millions and we are confident it will help legitimize Beach Volleyball as a global sport.”

FIVB

Olympic berths will also be awarded to countries fielding teams that finish the FIVB World Tour qualification process ranked in the top 16, and the two winners of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Cup Olympic Qualification Tournament in 2012. This portion of the process is still quite unclear. The beach volleyball department at FIVB headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, has set a new date of April 2010 to finalize all phases of the new system.

NCAA Tournament: Top 10 Seeds

#1 Penn State

Penn State advanced to the Sweet 16 with a 3-0 (25-9, 25-13 25-14) sweep of Binghamton Friday night and a 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-16) sweep of the University of Pennsylvania Saturday night. The Nittany Lions have now won 98 consecutive matches and head coach Russ Rose has 997 career wins. Penn State advanced to the Sweet 16 for the 21st time and will face Florida at the Gators’ home in Gainesville Friday night.

#2 Texas

Texas won its first-round match Thursday night, sweeping Texas State and improving to 23-0 all-time in First Round action. The 25-16, 25-14, 25-14 victory improved the Longhorns to 25-1 on the year, while the Bobcats ended their season with a 22-13 mark. The following night, UT ended Texas Christian University’s season with a 3-0 (25-15, 25-14, 25-18) sweep. Next weekend, the Longhorns will face their third opponent from the state of Texas when they meet the Aggies of Texas A&M in the Sweet 16.

#3 Florida State

Mysterious No. 3 seed and 14th-ranked Florida State swept Alabama A&M, 25-10, 25-19, 25-10 in the first round at Tully Gym to move on and play Jacksonville State Sunday afternoon. JSU saw the same fate as A&M, losing in three sets, 18-25, 24-26, 22-25. The Seminoles next face 10th-ranked Kentucky for a berth in the Elite Eight.

#4 Stanford

The fourth-seeded Cardinal crushed Long Island University, 25-11, 25-15, 25-10, in the first round of the 2009 NCAA Tournament Friday night at Maples Pavilion. In the second round against Saint Mary’s, however, things got unexpectedly more difficult. Stanford barely prevailed with a two-point victory in five tough sets, 21-25, 25-21, 25-22, 24-26, 15-13. In the Sweet 16, Stanford faces 13th-seeded Michigan en route to a possible Elite Eight match-up with either Illinois or Hawaii.

#5 Illinois

The Fighting Illini swept IPFW, 25-16, 25-15, 25-12 in the first round Thursday night. In the second round, Illinois defeated Dayton, 26-28, 25-8, 25-17, 25-18 to advance to next weekend’s regional in Palo Alto, Calif. The Illini face Hawaii on Friday in the round of 16.

Click here for a full-size updated bracket.

#6 Washington

The sixth-seeded Huskies were tested early in their NCAA Championship opener, but found their rhythm and pulled away for a 3-1 (25-27, 25-15, 25-22, 25-21) win over Northern Colorado at Colorado State’s Moby Arena. On Friday, Washington’s luck ran out as the Rams of Colorado State upset UW, 3-1 (25-16, 25-22, 21-25, 25-19), ending the Huskies’ season early in what many believed was the weakest of the four regions. Colorado State moves on to face Minnesota in the Sweet 16.

#7 Iowa State

Seventh-seeded and fifth-ranked Iowa State cruised to a 3-0 (25-22, 25-13, 25-19) victory over George Mason Friday evening in the tournament’s first round at Hilton Coliseum. The Cyclones followed up their opening-round performance with a 3-0 sweep of Wichita State, 27-25, 25-21, 25-18, to advance to their third straight Sweet 16. Iowa State will face 10th-seeded Nebraska Friday evening at the Qwest Center in Omaha.

#8 UCLA

UCLA swept Long Beach State 25-20, 25-20, 25-16 Friday evening at Pauley Pavilion in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. In the second round, the Bruins fell victim to the Pac-10 upset bug that had already claimed USC, Oregon and Washington. Baylor’s 3-1 win (25-23, 25-22, 29-31, 25-19) over eighth-seeded UCLA Saturday night in Pauley Pavilion punched the Bears’ first-ever ticket to the Sweet 16. Baylor will face ninth-seeded California in Gainesville Friday.

#9 California

California eliminated Lipscomb in three straight sets (25-15, 25-22, 25-9) Friday evening in the first round. On Saturday, the Golden Bears defeated Ohio State 3-1 (25-13, 18-25, 25-23, 25-20) to advance to the Sweet 16. Cal will make its fourth straight appearance in the NCAA regional semifinals and registered a school-record fourth straight 20-win season with the victory over the Buckeyes. Next up is Baylor for a chance at the Elite Eight and a possible match-up with defending national champion Penn State.

#10 Nebraska

Nebraska used its home court advantage Friday night at the NU Coliseum to sweep the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers, 25-13, 25-18, 25-15, and advance into round two. On Saturday, the Huskers clinched a spot in the regional semifinals in Omaha next weekend by dismantling 20th-ranked Northern Iowa, 25-14, 25-17, 25-21. In the Sweet 16, Nebraska faces seventh-seeded Iowa State in a Big 12 rematch likely to sell out the arena located on the border of both states.