CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It was pure elation on selection Sunday from the Charlotte 49ers as it was revealed their historic softball season will continue.
Charlotte earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, and will play Campbell at 2:30 p.m., Friday in the Durham region, hosted by Duke.
"Just their reaction it just brought so much joy to our hearts," coach Ashley Chastain said. "They've worked really hard for it and they deserve it."
The Niners won 33 games this year and won their first ever Conference USA regular season championship in their final year in the league.
"That's really been our focus since August," Chastain said. "And in order to do that you have to have team chemistry and buy-in from everyone in the program."
Along the way the team scored huge wins over huge names including South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia Tech and North Carolina.
That's why despite not winning the Conference USA Tournament, they were a great choice for the NCAA field.
"We felt really good about our resume, we thought our resume was really strong from our body of work the entire regular season," Chastain said. "But it came down to the wire.
Charlotte has played both Campbell and Duke this season.
The 49ers lost to the Camels in 12 innings, and to the Blue Devils by just one run.
"This is a really special group, they're really tight," Chastain said. "They've created this awesome sisterhood of accountability and they love on each other. You could really see that when our name was called at selection on Sunday night just how much they love each other and how much joy they have for each other."
