SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Mercer Bears earned a share of the Southern Conference regular-season title and claimed the top seed in the 2021 SoCon Volleyball Championship. The tournament, which features all nine teams in the conference, begins with a first-round contest on Monday, Nov. 15, when Chattanooga, the No. 8 seed, welcomes No. 9 seed Furman to Chattanooga, Tennessee. The remainder of the tournament will be held Nov. 19-21 in the Pete Hanna Center on the campus of Samford in Birmingham, Alabama.

Mercer (16-11, 12-4 SoCon) won a share of the SoCon regular-season title for the second straight season. As the No. 1 seed, Mercer will face the winner of No. 8 seed Chattanooga (11-18, 7-9) and No. 9 seed Furman (7-19, 2-14) on Friday, Nov. 19, at 2 p.m. CT. The Bears went 2-0 against Furman and 1-1 against Chattanooga, who handed Mercer a 3-2 home loss on Nov. 5.

The Mocs downed the Paladins in both matches during the regular season, earning a five-set road win on Oct. 1 and a 3-0 sweep at home on Oct. 28.

Despite being picked to finish last by the coaches in the preseason poll after a 2-14 SoCon record in 2020-21, UNCG (23-6, 12-4 SoCon) earned a share of the SoCon regular-season championship and clinched the No. 2 seed in the tournament. The Spartans will face No. 7 seed The Citadel (11-11, 7-9 SoCon) in the third quarterfinal match. The Spartans and Bulldogs split in the regular-season meetings, with the Bulldogs winning in five sets on Oct. 15 and the Spartans exacting revenge with a 3-1 win in the regular-season finale on Saturday night.

After beginning SoCon play 2-5, preseason SoCon favorite Samford won seven of its last nine league contests to claim the No. 3 seed in the tournament. The Bulldogs (10-17, 9-7 SoCon) will take on No. 6 ETSU (11-16, 7-9) in the final match on Friday, set for 7:30 p.m. CT. The two teams split the regular-season meetings, with ETSU winning 3-1 on Oct. 7 and Samford winning by the same score on its home court on Nov. 5.

Fourth-seeded Wofford (15-13, 9-7) will clash with Western Carolina (11-16, 7-9), who claimed the fifth seed, in the first match on Friday. Wofford won both regular-season meetings, downing The Catamounts 3-1 at home on Oct. 9 and rallying to win in five sets on the road on Nov. 5.

The semifinal round of the tournament will be held on Saturday, Nov. 20, with matches scheduled for 5 p.m. CT and 7:30 p.m. CT, before the tournament culminates at 4 p.m. CT on Sunday, Nov. 21, with the championship match.

The tournament champion will earn the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Volleyball Championship.

2021 Southern Conference Volleyball Championship
Pete Hanna Center | Birmingham, Ala.

Monday, Nov. 15
First Round
Match 1: #8 Chattanooga vs. #9 Furman, 6 p.m. ET in Chattanooga, Tennessee (ESPN+)

Friday, Nov. 19
Quarterfinals
Match 2: #4 Wofford vs. #5 Western Carolina, 11:30 a.m. CT (ESPN+)
Match 3: #1 Mercer vs. Match 1 winner, 2 p.m. CT (ESPN+)
Match 4: #2 UNCG vs. #7 The Citadel, 5 p.m. CT (ESPN+)
Match 5: #3 Samford vs. #6 ETSU, 7:30 p.m. CT (ESPN+)

Saturday, Nov. 20
Semifinals
Match 6: Match 2 winner vs. Match 3 winner, 5 p.m. CT (ESPN+)
Match 7: Match 4 winner vs. Match 5 winner, 7:30 p.m. CT (ESPN+)

Sunday, Nov. 21
Championship
Match 8: Match 6 winner vs. Match 7 winner, 4 p.m. CT (ESPN+)