SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The 2015 Southern Conference Volleyball Championship is set to begin Saturday on the campus of Western Carolina in Cullowhee, N.C., with a slate of five matches.
Regular-season champion Chattanooga (24-5, 13-3 SoCon) is the No. 1 seed in the tournament. The Mocs, led by coach of the year Travis Filar, will face the winner of the tournament’s opening match on Saturday between No. 8 seed Western Carolina (11-21, 5-11 SoCon) and No. 9 seed The Citadel (7-27, 0-16 SoCon) at 2:30 p.m. The Bulldogs and Catamounts will kick off the action at 9:30 a.m.
Second-seeded Furman (18-8, 12-4 SoCon) will face No. 7 seed Mercer (10-18, 5-11 SoCon) in the 5 p.m. Saturday match. The Paladins feature player of the year Annie Bierman and will be trying to atone for a 3-1 loss in the championship last year at the hands of Samford.
UNCG (21-10, 11-5 SoCon), the No. 3 seed, will clash with No. 6 seed Wofford (16-17, 7-9 SoCon) in the late match on Saturday, which is slated for 7:30 p.m. The Spartans claimed two awards, as senior Katherine Santiago was named the league’s libero of the year, and setter Allison Penner earned the Rayna Taylor Award, given annually to the conference’s freshman of the year.
In the noon Saturday match, No. 4 seed Samford (15-11, 10-6 SoCon) will face No. 5 seed ETSU (18-11, 9-7 SoCon). The two teams split contests in the regular season. The Bulldogs, last year’s tournament champion, enter Saturday on a seven-match winning streak that dates back to Oct. 24.
The semifinal round of the tournament will be held Sunday, with matches scheduled for 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., before it culminates Monday at 6 p.m. with the championship match, which will be broadcast on ESPN3. All matches outside of the championship will be streamed on the SoCon Digital Network.
The tournament champion will earn the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Volleyball Championships.
2015 Southern Conference Volleyball Championship
Ramsey Center ▪ Cullowhee, N.C.
Saturday, Nov. 21
First Round
Match 1: #8 Western Carolina vs. #9 The Citadel, 9:30 a.m. (SDN)
Quarterfinals
Match 2: #4 Samford vs. #5 ETSU, Noon (SDN)
Match 3: #1 Chattanooga vs. Match 1 winner, 2:30 p.m. (SDN)
Match 4: #2 Furman vs. #7 Mercer, 5 p.m. (SDN)
Match 5: #3 UNCG vs. #6 Wofford, 7:30 p.m. (SDN)
Sunday, Nov. 22
Semifinals
Match 6: Match 2 winner vs. Match 3 winner, 2 p.m. (SDN)
Match 7: Match 4 winner vs. Match 5 winner, 4:30 p.m. (SDN)
Monday, Nov. 23
Championship
Match 8: Match 6 winner vs. Match 7 winner, 6 p.m. (ESPN3)
ALL TIMES EASTERN
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