INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. --- For the first time in ODAC history, three league schools have qualified for the Division III Women's Volleyball Championship, as announced by the NCAA via selection show on ncaa.com on Monday afternoon.

ODAC champion Washington and Lee University is joined by Virginia Wesleyan University and the University of Lynchburg as at-large entries to the field. The Generals are in the bracket for a third straight season and ODAC-record 18th time overall. The Marlins feature for a second year-running and third time overall, while the Hornets will be making their inaugural appearance on the national stage. The conference nearly saw a fourth team enter the field with Bridgewater College coming up just short in the final NCAA Power Index (NPI) rankings.

The Division III women's volleyball bracket includes 64 teams with 43 qualifying automatically as conference champions like Washington and Lee. The remaining 21 entrants were determined by ranking in the NPI. Virginia Wesleyan slotted eighth in the final table, while Lynchburg ranked 19th. That translated to the third and eighth at-large selections, respectively.

All teams in a given sport -- 416 in D-III women's volleyball -- earn a NPI rating. Those NPI ratings are ranked sequentially and form a transparent method of selecting teams at-large to Division III brackets, replacing the former process of the sport championship committees selecting teams at-large based on predetermined selection criteria. Once the 43 automatic qualifiers are known, the next 21 best NPI-rated teams formed the list of at-large selected programs to fill out the bracket.

ODAC fans will only need to focus on two locations with Virginia Wesleyan selected to host one of eight eight-team pods that also includes Washington and Lee. Lynchburg will travel to Baltimore for competition at Johns Hopkins University.

Virginia Wesleyan's pod is located in the upper-left quadrant of the bracket. The Marlins (31-2) open play with John Jay College (23-6), the champion from the City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC). The Generals (23-9) square off with Berry College (24-7), the AQ from the Southern Athletic Association (SAA). The other two first round matchups at VWU on Thursday include Christopher Newport University against SUNY-Cortland and three-time defending national champion Juniata College versus Grove City College. The Captains (24-7) won the Coast-to-Coast (C2C) championship, while the Red Dragons (24-7) claimed the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) trophy. The Eagles (27-5) won the Landmark Conference title, while the Wolverines (20-8) earned the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) automatic entry.

Lynchburg is directly opposite VWU and WLU in the bracket with the Johns Hopkins pod located in the upper-right quadrant. The Hornets (26-4) meet William Smith College (23-7) in their first-ever match in the Division III women's volleyball tournament. The Herons (23-7) were the 20th at-large selection to the field and play in the Liberty League. The remaining three opening-round pairings include Johns Hopkins versus Stevenson University, St. John Fisher University against Wentworth Institute of Technology, and the University of La Verne versus Penn State University Behrend. The host Blue Jays (25-4) won the Centennial Conference title, while the Mustangs (18-13) are the AQ from the MAC Commonwealth. The Cardinals (29-1) donned the Empire 8 crown, while the Leopards (23-4) claimed the Conference of New England (CNE) championship. The other set of Leopards from La Verne (25-2) are an at-large entry from the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC), and the Lions (22-7) are the champions from the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC).

Play begins on Thursday, November 20 at the eight selected sites. Each will feature three rounds with the eight pod-winners getting a week off before heading to Bloomington, Illinois. The Shirk Center Arena at Illinois Wesleyan University will serve as the host venue for the quarterfinals on Wednesday, December 3, semifinals on Thursday, December 4, and the championship match on Saturday, December 6.