B: Andrew Korba

The Ohio Northern women's volleyball team will return to the NCAA Tournament and face off against defending national champion and No. 3-ranked Wittenberg in the first round of the 2012 NCAA Division III Volleyball Tournament in Grand Rapids, Mich.

This will be the Polar Bears 28th appereance in the 31-year history of the NCAA III Tournamnent.

Ohio Northern will play the Tigers on Thursday at a time to be determined.

The ONU/Wittenberg winner will face the either No. 4 Hope (Mich.) or No. 12 Otterbein in the second round on Friday.

The Regional finals are slated for Saturday.

ONU is 24-6 overall record and a posted 7-2 mark in the OAC, which was good for third place.

Northern also was ranked No. 6 in the Great Lakes Region.

Stay tuned to ONUSports.com for more updates as they become available.