NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. - The Niagara volleyball team (23-8) will travel to Ann Arbor, Mich., to face No. 13 Michigan (24-9) in the first round of the 2009 NCAA Tournament. The Purple Eagles enter the field of 64 for the first time in program history.

"It was awesome to see Niagara on the screen," 2009 MAAC Coach of the Year Susan Clements said. "We are really excited about the draw. We  thought we’d be regionalized and kind of close, so when we saw that we'd be playing Michigan,  we continued to think that we have a real shot. Michigan is  a lot taller than us, but we are quick, so we can look to push the pace and have great ball control. We are going to go out and play our game aggressively."

The 2009 MAAC Champions capped off the biggest turnaround in the nation, with a plus-17 win increase from last season. They are part of the Stanford Regional with No. 4 Stanford, No. 5 Illinois, No. 12 Hawaii and No. 13 Michigan. Ohio (26-6) and Notre Dame (21-6) will square off in the other first-round contest at Michigan. This will be the first meeting between the Purple Eagles and the Wolverines.

The Purple Eagles, one year removed from being the youngest team in the nation, are led by 2009 MAAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player Hannah Hedrick (Cincinnati, Ohio) and 2009 MAAC Setter of the Year Michelle James (Cincinnati, Ohio). Both sophomores landed on the First-Team All-MAAC this season.

"This is an awesome feeling, something we knew we could achieve," James explained. "We can’t wait to play Michigan. We’ve been working on it all season to be in the NCAA Tournament. It will be a little nervous at first, but I’m sure we will get it together and play hard."

Follow all the action of Niagara's NCAA Tournament run on PurpleEagles.com.