TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The No. 14 Florida State volleyball team was rewarded for its memorable 2009 regular season Sunday afternoon by the NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Committee.

On the heels of a 28-win, Atlantic Coast Conference Championship year, the committee announced that FSU was granted an impressive No. 3 national seed in the 64-team field and will host the first and second rounds of the 2009 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship in Tallahassee this weekend.

The Seminoles (28-2) will open up against Alabama A&M (18-10) on Saturday. Cross-town foe Florida A&M (17-9) and Jacksonville State (26-7) are the other two programs that will compete this weekend.

“I think getting the opportunity to host the opening rounds is going to give us a little bit of comfort initially,” said FSU head coach Chris Poole. “We don’t have to go out on the road first so it’s going to give our players a chance to get the butterflies out and go out play.”

While the Seminoles have the opportunity to play in front of a home crowd to start the tournament, Poole is quick to point out a factor such as that won’t make it any easier. All four teams competing this weekend stamped their tickets to the postseason by winning their respective leagues.

“Alabama A&M, Florida A&M and Jacksonville State all won their conferences just like us,” Poole said. “So, obviously they are very good teams that cannot be taken lightly.”

If FSU can get out of the first two rounds, a long road trip will be on the horizon. The Seminoles are part of a Minneapolis, Minn. bracket that also includes fellow ACC teams Clemson and Duke. Kentucky, Michigan State, Minnesota, Oregon, Tennessee, Louisville, Colorado State, Middle Tennessee, Northern Colorado and Washington are also in the bracket.

This season, Florida State is a combined 6-0 against teams in its bracket, including one win each over the Rattlers and Middle Tennessee and two wins over both the Blue Devils and Tigers.

This is the first time since 2002 that the FSU volleyball team will be playing in the NCAA Tournament and at No. 3 this is the highest seed the program has ever been granted. The Seminoles are just 1-10 all-time in NCAA Tournament play with the only win in school history coming against DePaul in 1993.

Florida State’s match against Florida A&M is slated to begin at 2 p.m. this Saturday at Tully Gym.

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA REGIONAL

December 5-6 at Tallahassee, Florida

No. 3 Florida St. (28-2) vs. Alabama A&M (18-10)

Florida A&M (17-9) vs. Jacksonville St. (26-7)

December 4-5 at Lexington, Kentucky

Kentucky (27-4) vs. Michigan St. (17-15)

Clemson (23-9) vs. No. 14 Oregon (19-9)

December 4-5 at Knoxville, Tennessee

No. 11 Minnesota (24-8) vs. Louisville (21-10)

Duke (27-5) vs. Tennessee (23-7)

December 3-4 at Fort Collins, Colorado

Colorado St. (23-5) vs. Middle Tenn. (25-9)

Northern Colo. (21-11) vs. No. 6 Washington (23-5)