The No. 15 University of Minnesota volleyball program has earned an at-large bid in the 2024 NCAA Division I Volleyball Tournament. The Golden Gophers (20-10, 13-7 Big Ten) were placed in the Lexington, Ky., region and will take on Western Kentucky in round one. The first two rounds will take place on Thursday, Dec. 5 and Friday, Dec. 6, it was announced tonight during the selection show on ESPN.

Minnesota received a No. 6 seed and will take on Western Kentucky (28-6, 18-0 CUSA) in the first match of the evening, set for 4:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. CT on Thursday. The match will be followed by No. 3 Kentucky facing Cleveland State at 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT. The winner of each match will advance to the Second Round, set for 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. ET on Friday evening. All matches will be played at No. 3 seed, Kentucky, inside Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Ky.

Should the Gophers advance out of the first two rounds, Minnesota is in the Pittsburgh Region and will travel to Pittsburgh, Pa., for the NCAA Regionals from Dec. 12-14. The Panthers (29-1, 19-1 ACC) are the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed.

Louisville, Ky., is the host city for the NCAA Championships. They will take place Dec. 19-22 as the national semifinals and championship match will be played at the KFC Yum Center.

The 2024 season marks the 29th year the Golden Gophers have advanced to the NCAA tournament. Receiving an at-large bid this year, the Gophers have now advanced to the tournament in 10 straight seasons and 25 of the last 26 overall. As a program, Minnesota has had 29 straight winning seasons, dating back to the  1995 season.

Minnesota is one of nine Big Ten teams to make the 2024 NCAA tournament. Nebraska holds the No. 2 overall seed while Penn State (3) will also host a regional.

In all, the Gophers faced 14 teams that made up the field of 64. Along with the other Big Ten teams Minnesota faced this season, the Gophers also competed against Baylor, Chicago State and TCU.

The Gophers enter the NCAA tournament with a 20-10 (13-7 Big Ten) overall record. They placed in a tie for sixth in the Big Ten behind only Nebraska (19-1), Penn State (19-1), Wisconsin (17-3), Purdue (16-4) and Oregon (14-6).

Western Kentucky (28-6, 18-0 Conference USA) will make its seventeenth NCAA Tournament in 2024. Western Kentucky posts a 9-16 tournament record. Minnesota leads the series 1-0, with their last and only meeting being in 1984. Western Kentucky earned an automatic bid after winning the Conference USA Tournament.

(U of M Athletics contributed information to this article.)