VILLANOVA, Pa. -- The BIG EAST champions will start the 2024 NCAA Softball Tournament in the Fayetteville Regional, competing against the host No. 12 Arkansas, Southeast Missouri State and the team's first round opponent Arizona. 

It'll be a battle of the Wildcats on Friday evening as Villanova will begin tournament play at 6:00 p.m. Eastern on ESPN+ against the Arizona Wildcats (34-16-1), whose regional VU appeared in during the 2021 season though the two sides have never met on the softball diamond. 

Villanova earned the league's automatic bid after sweeping its way through the conference tournament, taking down St. John's, Connecticut and Creighton in successive days for the program's third BIG EAST title in the last four seasons.

Senior pitcher Caroline Pellicano earned the tournament's Most Outstanding Player after picking up two saves and a victory in three shutdown appearances while Ally Jones (two home runs in championship game), Alyssa Seidler (winning pitcher in championship game) and Kelsey White (walk-off double in first round, winning pitcher in semifinals) each were selected to the All-Tournament Team.

This is Villanova's third appearance in the NCAA Tournament, all of which have come under head coach Bridget Orchard.

The 'Cats picked up their first ever NCAA victory on the campus of Arizona, taking down UMBC in Tucson during the 2021 season thanks to a two-run homer by then-sophomore Ally Jones. Jones and then-freshman Tess Cites both sent balls out of the park in the following elimination game which concluded VU's first ever NCAA trip.