Five SAC Teams Earn Selections to NCAA Volleyball Championship
Five SAC teams have been selected to compete in the 2013 NCAA Division II Volleyball Championship, led by the southeast region’s top seed Wingate.
INDIANAPOLIS – Five SAC teams have been selected to compete in the 2013 NCAA Division II Volleyball Championship, led by the southeast region's top seed Wingate.
Wingate – which will host the regional round Dec. 5-7 – is joined in the bracket by No. 4 seed Tusculum, No. 5 Anderson, No. 6 Queens and No. 7 Newberry. SAC teams accounted for five of the eight spots in the southeast region.
A total of 64 teams make up the bracket – 22 automatic qualifiers and 42 at-large selections. The tournament's eight regional champions will advance to the final site in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Dec. 12-14.
Wingate earned the region's top seed after finishing the regular season 29-2 overall. The Bulldogs went a perfect 22-0 in the SAC for their eighth-straight conference title, and also won their eighth-straight SAC Volleyball Championship crown on Sunday to secure the AQ.
WU – which reached the national quarterfinals last season - will face eighth-seeded Belmont Abbey in the first round.
SAC regular-season runner up Tusculum will take on SAC Tournament runner up Anderson in the first round. Tusculum went 21-10 overall and 15-7 in the SAC, while Anderson enters the NCAA Championship 18-14 overall and went 14-8 in the conference.
SAC-newcomer Queens went 17-11 overall and 14-8 conference play, and will take on No. 3 seed Flagler in the opening round. Newberry, meanwhile, finished 18-12 overall and 12-10 in league matches, and will face second-seeded Armstrong.
Newberry and Tusculum join Wingate as repeat selections to the NCAA Championship bracket. Newberry was eliminated in last year's regional semifinals, while Tusculum fell to Wingate in the regional final.