GROVE CITY, Pa. -- The Grove City College women's soccer team will make its fourth straight appearance in the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament later this week when the Wolverines travel to Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Grove City (14-2-4) will face Centre (Ky.) in the first round of the 64-team tournament Friday at 1:30 p.m. at Calvin's Zuidema Soccer Field.

Grove City earned the Presidents' Athletic Conference's automatic berth in the national tournament by winning the conference tournament title match Saturday night over visiting Saint Vincent, 4-0, at Don Lyle Field. 

Centre (13-2-4) earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament by winning the Southern Athletic Association title. The Colonels defeated Trinity (Texas) in the S.A.A. title match Sunday, 1-0, in Mount Berry, Ga. 

This will be Centre's first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2022. Centre defeated visiting Grove City in the second round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament, 1-0, in Danville, Ky.

Overall, Grove City is making its ninth trip to the NCAA Championship Tournament. Grove City also qualified for the tournament in 2002, 2003, 2012, 2018, 2019, 2023, 2024, 2025. In 2019, Centre and Grove City both traveled to Ada, Ohio, for the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament but did not play each other. 

The Grove City-Centre winner will face either Calvin (15-2-1) or Milwaukee School of Engineering (13-4-5) in the second round Saturday afternoon. Calvin and M.S.O.E. will play at 11 a.m. Friday.

Calvin earned an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament after falling in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association tournament title match to Hope. M.S.O.E. earned the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference's automatic berth by advancing past Illinois Tech in a penalty kick shootout Saturday in the conference tournament title match.

Last year, Grove City also traveled to Calvin for the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Illinois Tech defeated the Wolverines, 1-0.