INDIANAPOLIS — UNC Pembroke punched a ticket to its eighth NCAA Tournament, earning an at-large berth and the Southeast Region's No. 5 seed as one of 56 teams selected for postseason play with the release of the field Monday night. 
 
The fifth-seeded Braves (12-2-5) will battle fourth-seeded Catawba (13-5-2) on Friday in the opening round of the sub-regional hosted by No. 1 seed Columbus State, who will take on eighth-seeded Flagler in the other matchup. Game times are to be determined. The two winners will meet Sunday, with the winner of the four-team Columbus State sub-regional advancing to take on the winner of the four-team sub-regional hosted by North Georgia, which features the second-seeded Nighthawks (13-4-3) against seventh-seeded Lees-McRae (10-3-5), as well as third-seeded Francis Marion (15-4-1) battling sixth-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne (13-6-1).
 
Friday's first-round matchup will mark UNCP's eighth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history. The Braves made previous trips to the NCAA Tournament in 2008, 2010, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022, and 2023 and bring a 2-7-0 clip in NCAA Tournament play into the matchup against Catawba.
  
The Braves are 3-7 all-time against the Indians, as Catawba has won the last five meetings, including a 3-0 win over the Braves in the first round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament.