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American Lacrosse Conference Awarded Automatic NCAA Bid 9-2-03 9/2/2003 INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — The NCAA Division I Lacrosse Committee has recommended seven conferences for automatic qualification into the 2004 NCAA Tournament including the American Lacrosse Conference, league commissioner Peggy Pruitt announced. Vanderbilt is a charter member of the American Lacrosse Conference, which is entering its third year of existence. “We are very excited about the opportunity to compete for the automatic bid to the NCAA’s,” Vanderbilt Coach Cathy Swezey said. “It is a great compliment to our conference and rewards the success of the seven programs in the ALC. We anticipate a great battle for the conference title and look forward to another competitive year in the ALC.” America East, the Atlantic 10, the Big East, the Colonial Athletic Association, the Ivy Group and the Patriot League also will receive automatic bids to the 16-team tournament. The eighth automatic qualifier will be awarded to the winner of a play-in game between the champions of the Northeast Conference and the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. The Commodores won the inaugural league title in 2002 by sweeping through their regular-season conference schedule at a perfect 6-0. They then were forced to sweat out the NCAA selection show to find out they had earned an at-large bid for their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The ALC has received three at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament over the past two seasons. The league holds the seventh highest RPI in the nation and is ranked fourth among leagues which qualify for automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. In the spring of 2004, Vanderbilt will travel to ALC foes Davidson, Johns Hopkins and Northwestern, and host Ohio, Ohio State and Penn State in its quest to reclaim the conference title and qualify for the league’s first automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Commodores have blossomed into a lacrosse power in recent years, highlighted by a benchmark victory over second-ranked Duke a season ago, and will again find themselves in the national spotlight with 11 seniors on the roster in 2004. |
