No. 3 Seed Queens Wins 2017 South Atlantic Conference Volleyball Title
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The third-seeded Queens Royals arrived to their first ever SAC Championship Final at Holt Fieldhouse on Saturday and left with the title after defeating the fourth-seeded Carson-Newman Eagles in four sets.
The game marked the first time that the two programs squared off in postseason play. Each team had won a match during the regular season as the schools played for the second time in seven days in Holt Fieldhouse.
The first set was dominated by Carson-Newman service aces as the Eagles (17-14) collected six in total. Freshman Megan Oldenburger also collected team-high four kills leading C-N to a 25-21 victory.
After trailing early, Queens (23-7) gained a 24-22 advantage in the second set before back-to-back points gave the Eagles some life. The Royals bounced back into form and grabbed a 26-24 victory to even the match at one.
The third and fourth sets played out the same for the Royals with 25-20 wins, overcoming deficits midway through each set.
Freshman Casey Tarvin held a game-high 19 kills in the match. Oldenburger came away with 17 for C-N.
This season is the sixth time in 28 tournaments that the winner was not a top-two seed. Three seeds Catawba (1992), Wingate (2003) and Lenoir-Rhyne (2015) along with No. 5 seed Carson-Newman (2000) and sixth-seeded Catawba (2001) are the instances where the top two seeds failed to hoist the trophy.
With the win, Queens earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Volleyball Championships.
C-N, who came in at No. 7 in the latest region polls, awaits the selection show slated for Monday at 7:30 p.m. | Watch
All-Tournament
Sydney Kunz, Queens (MVP)
Alex Thompson, Queens
Casey Tarvin, Queens
Marnie Streeter, Carson-Newman
Morgan Ballard, Carson-Newman
Marissa Mitter, Anderson
Katie Bludau, Wingate