SPRINGFIELD -- The Missouri State volleyball team earned a spot in its sixth NCAA Tournament in the last eight seasons Sunday, parlaying its 21-9 season and No. 40 ranking in the RPI into an at-large selection. The Bears will play Auburn (20-12) of the Southeastern Conference on Thursday, Dec. 2, at 4:30 p.m. in Lincoln, Neb.

    The other half of the four-team regional pits the No. 2 overall seed and host Nebraska (27-2) against Sacred Heart (29-6). The winners will play on Dec. 3 at 7 p.m., and the champion of the four-team sub-regional advances to Seattle, Wash., for the third and fourth rounds Dec. 10 and 11.

    The Bears finished fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference at 12-6 and lost to Illinois State in the first round of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, but built a strong non-conference resume along with its solid finish in perhaps the toughest MVC field ever, as The Valley tied a record set in 2007 with four teams in the NCAA field.

    Also in the NCAA Tournament from the MVC is No. 5 overall seed UNI, which will host Missouri in the first round; Wichita State, which plays at Oklahoma in a rematch of the season opener that WSU won 3-0; and Creighton, which makes its first-ever appearance against Iowa State in Minneapolis, Minn.

    MSU is 1-8 all-time in the tournament, with appearances in 1982, 1990, 1993, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. The Bears also went to Lincoln in their last tourney appearance, losing to UAB in the first round.

     Auburn is making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since the program began in 1986. The Tigers are 20-12 overall and finished third in the SEC West with an 11-9 conference record. Auburn finished the regular season ranked 44th in the RPI.