SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The 2016 Southern Conference Volleyball Championship is set to begin Saturday, Nov. 19, on the campus of Samford University in Birmingham, Ala., with a slate of five matches.
Regular-season champion ETSU (21-7, 13-3 SoCon) is the No. 1 seed in the tournament. The Bucs, led by SoCon Coach of the Year Lindsey Devine, will face the winner of the tournament’s opening match on Saturday between No. 8 seed Furman (10-18, 6-10 SoCon) and No. 9 seed The Citadel (8-24, 1-15 SoCon) at 2:30 p.m. The Paladins and the Bulldogs, who split their matches against each other in the regular-season, will kick off the action at 9:30 a.m.
Second-seeded UNCG (17-12, 11-5 SoCon) will face No. 7 seed Western Carolina (11-18, 6-10 SoCon) in the 5 p.m. Saturday match. The Spartans feature SoCon Libero of the Year Christina Gregory, who will look to advance UNCG to the final after the Spartans fell to Furman in the 2015 championship semifinals.
Chattanooga (17-12, 10-6 SoCon), the No. 3 seed, will clash with No. 6 seed Mercer (15-13, 7-9 SoCon) in the late match on Saturday, which is slated for 7:30 p.m. The Mocs swept the Bears in their pair of matches this season. In first contest on Oct. 1, Chattanooga achieved a hitting percentage of .411 against senior libero Tori Penrod, who led the conference in digs per set against conference opponents. Mercer opposite hitter Morgan MacGilvary, a First Team All-SoCon selection, will look to lead the Bears offense against the Mocs.
In the noon Saturday match, No. 4 seed and host Samford (18-13, 9-7 SoCon) will face No. 5 seed Wofford (17-17, 9-7 SoCon). The two teams tied for fourth in the regular-season standings with the Bulldogs winning tie breaker by virtue of the league’s tiebreaker rules. Samford and Wofford split their pair of matches during the regular season. Both squads lost in last year’s championship quarterfinals in Cullowhee, N.C.
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.
The tournament champion will earn the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Volleyball Championship.
For more information on this week's Southern Conference Volleyball Championship, click here.
2016 Southern Conference Volleyball Championship
Pete Hanna Center ? Birmingham, Ala.
Saturday, Nov. 19
First Round
Match 1: #8 Furman vs. #9 The Citadel, 9:30 a.m. (SDN)
Quarterfinals
Match 2: #4 Samford vs. #5 Wofford, 12 p.m. (SDN)
Match 3: #1 ETSU vs. Match 1 winner, 2:30 p.m. (SDN)
Match 4: #2 UNCG vs. #7 Western Carolina, 5 p.m. (SDN)
Match 5: #3 Chattanooga vs. #6 Mercer, 7:30 p.m. (SDN)
Sunday, Nov. 20
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. 21
Championship
Match 8: Match 6 winner vs. Match 7 winner, 6 p.m. (ESPN3)
ALL TIMES CENTRAL
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