Wingate Claims No. 1 Seed in SAC Volleyball Championship

ROCK HILL, S.C. – The 2012 Food Lion SAC Volleyball Championship field was finalized on Saturday, with regular-season champion Wingate headlining the bracket as the No. 1 seed.

The Championship will take place next Friday through Sunday on the campus of Brevard College.

[RELATED: SAC Volleyball Championship Central]

Wingate earned the event's top seed after finishing the regular season with an overall record of 26-2 and a 16-2 mark in the conference. The Bulldogs have won 17-straight matches.

WU will open the Championship on Friday against No. 8 seed Anderson, which won a head-to-head tiebreaker over Carson-Newman for the final spot in field.

Tusculum, the Championship's No. 2 seed, wrapped up its regular season on Saturday with a 3-0 win over Lenoir-Rhyne. The Pioneers, who are 20-6 overall and went 14-4 in the league, will open against No. 7 seed Mars Hill, which went 14-14 in the regular season and 7-11 in the conference.

Lincoln Memorial defeated Catawba 3-1 on Saturday to secure the No. 3 seed in the SAC Championship. LMU will again be pitted against Catawba, the No. 6 seed, in Friday's quarterfinals.

LMU finished the regular season 20-12 overall and 12-6 in the SAC, while Catawba went 12-14 overall and 9-9 in the league.

Lenoir-Rhyne earned the Championship's No. 4 seed after going 19-10 overall and 11-7 in SAC matches. The Bears will face No. 5 seed Newberry in the quarterfinal round.

Newberry finished the regular season 17-13 overall and 10-8 in the conference.

2012 Food Lion SAC Volleyball Championship

Quarterfinals (Nov. 16)

No. 1 Wingate vs. No. 8 Anderson, noon

No. 4 Lenoir-Rhyne vs. No. 5 Newberry, 2:30 p.m.

No. 2 Tusculum vs. No. 7 Mars Hill, 5 p.m.

No. 3 Lincoln Memorial vs. No. 6 Catawba, 7:30 p.m.

Semifinals (Nov. 17)

Semifinal 1, 2:30 p.m.

Semifinal 2, 5 p.m.

Final (Nov. 18)

Semifinal 1 winner vs. Semifinal 2 winner, 2 p.m.