Five SAC Teams Selected To NCAA Volleyball Tournament Field
Wingate to host Southeast Regional
INDIANAPOLIS -- Five South Atlantic Conference volleyball teams have been selected to participate in the 64-team NCAA Division II tournament, the NCAA announced Sunday night.
The SAC dominated the region, taking five of the eight spots, including top-seed Wingate University, which will host the Southeast Regional Tournament for the second year in a row.
The Bulldogs, who won the 2009 Food Lion SAC Tournament title on Sunday and received the conference's automatic bid, are the top seed and will host eighth-seed and fellow SAC member Tusculum College.
Flagler, which won the Peach Belt Conference tournament, is the second seed, and will face seventh-seed Lees-McRae College, which won the Conference Carolinas tournament and received that conference's automatic bid.
Defending regional tournament champion Armstrong Atlantic State, out of the Peach Belt Conference, is the third seed and will face sixth-seed Lincoln Memorial University. LMU is making its second straight trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Carson-Newman College, which lost to Wingate in Sunday's Food Lion SAC Tournament championship, is the fourth seed and will face Catawba College.
Eight eight-team regionals will be played at on-campus sites. Regional competition will be single-elimination, best three-of-five game matches and will not include a third-place match.
The winners of each of the eight regionals will advance to the finals, December 3-5, on the campus of a participating institution. Competition at the finals site will be single-elimination, best three-of-five game matches.
Ticket prices have also been announced and will be $9 for adults, $5 for students and $3 for children 12 years and under. Tickets are good for one session only. There will be two sessions on Friday and the venue will be cleared between each session.
Southeast Region
Hosted by Wingate University, Wingate, North Carolina
Friday, November 20
No. 1 Wingate (34-1) vs. No. 8 Tusculum (17-14), 7:30 p.m.
No. 2 Flagler (30-8) vs. No. 7 Lees-McRae (28-5), 2:30 p.m.
No. 3 Armstrong Atlantic State (25-8) vs. No. 6 Lincoln Memorial
(21-9), Noon
No. 4 Carson-Newman (22-9) vs. No. 5 Catawba (17-11), 5 p.m.
Saturday, November 21
Lincoln Memorial/AASU winner vs. Flagler/Lees-McRae winner, 4:30
p.m.
Carson-Newman/Catawba winner vs. Wingate/Tusculum winner, 7
p.m.
Sunday, November 22
Championship match, 7 p.m.