![U of M volleyball team leaders (L to R) Alexis Hart , Molly Lohman, and Samantha Seliger-Swenson pose for portraits before practice as the team heads off for a big road trip in Madison on 9/1/2017. ] Richard Tsong-Taatarii ï richard.tsong-taatarii@startribune.com](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/C2CWGCCBTUZXR3GRJZH5Q7PZ5E.jpg?&w=1080)
NCAA tournament preview
What: First- and second-round action.
Where: Maturi Sports Pavilion, U of M campus.
When: First-round matches on Friday, and second-round match Saturday at 8 p.m.
At stake: The team that emerges from the four-team pod advances to the Sweet 16.
Minnesota pod: Friday schedule
Northern Iowa vs. Louisville, 4:30 p.m.
No. 7 Gophers vs. North Dakota, 7 p.m. (TV: BTN Plus)
Gophers outlook
Friday vs. North Dakota: The Gophers (26-5) are matching up with North Dakota (30-7) for the third time in two years, after the Gophers beat the Fighting Hawks in four sets in September 2016 and in three sets in last season's first round of the NCAA tournament. The Gophers have three All-Big Ten selections in Alexis Hart, Stephanie Samedy and Samantha Seliger-Swenson. The Fighting Hawks have never won against the Gophers in four meetings. Mia Tabberson was a former setter with the Gophers in coach Hugh McCutcheon's first season in 2012 and is now an assistant coach at North Dakota.
Quotable: "We're not going to be one of these teams that sits there and says, 'Hey, it's just like every other match' because it's not. I mean, there's an air of finality to this whole thing. … So you have to prepare them for the fact that there will be some emotional moments, and there will be some big moments. And it's really trying to help to prepare for how to manage those and helping them get through those versus trying to talk yourself into the fact that it's just another match." – McCutcheon on the postseason atmosphere.
