Catawba set to host SAC Volleyball Tournament

ROCK HILL, SC -- Wingate University, which claimed the volleyball regular season championship by going undefeated in conference play for the fourth year in a row, is the No. 1 seed in next week's Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Volleyball Tournament, conference officials announced. The tournament will be Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Catawba College in Salisbury, NC. Quarterfinals will be played on Friday, Nov. 12, with the semifinals on Saturday, Nov. 13. The championship match will be 2 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 14.

Host Catawba won its final five regular-season matches to earn its spot in the tournament after a slow start. The Lady Indians finished as the #5-seed and will tangle with fourth-seeded Carson-Newman on Friday at 2:30 p.m.

Wingate will face eighth-seed Newberry in the first quarterfinal match at noon on Friday. The Bulldogs are the top-ranked team in the Southeast Region. Newberry finished tied for eighth in the regular-season standings with Lenoir-Rhyne University. Newberry won the tiebreaker by winning both regular-season matches against the Bears.

Second-seeded Tusculum, which only lost to Wingate during the conference regular season, will face off against #7-seed Mars Hill at 5 p.m. and third-seeded Lincoln Memorial wraps up the first day of action in a match-up with sixth-seeded Anderson.

An awards ceremony recognizing the All-Conference team and other conference awards will take place following the 2:30 p.m. match between Carson-Newman and Catawba.

The championship match will be webstreamed and available to watch free over the Internet. Live stats will be available for all matches throughout the tournament.

The winner between Wingate and Newberry winner will face the winner between Carson-Newman and Catawba on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in one semifinal. The other semifinal will have the winner between Tusculum and Mars Hill meeting the winner between Lincoln Memorial and Anderson at 4 p.m.

Wingate is the four-time defending tournament champion. The winner of the tournament receives an automatic bid into the NCAA Division II Volleyball Championship tournament.
Admission to all Food Lion South Atlantic Conference tournament events is $5 per day for adults and $2 for college students and children 13 and under. Fans showing their Food Lion MVP card can save $1 off the adult admission price.

Friday, November 12
Food Lion SAC Tournament quarterfinals
at Catawba College, Salisbury, N.C.

No. 8 Newberry vs. No. 1 Wingate, Noon
No. 5 Catawba vs. No. 4 Carson-Newman, 2:30 p.m.
No. 7 Mars Hill vs. No. 2 Tusculum, 5 pm
No. 6 Anderson vs. No. 3 Lincoln Memorial, 7:30 pm

Saturday, November 13
Food Lion SAC Tournament semifinals
Newberry/Wingate winner vs. Catawba/Carson-Newman winner, 1:30 p.m.
Mars Hill/Tusculum winner vs. Anderson / Lincoln Memorial winner, 4 p.m.

Sunday, November 14
Food Lion SAC Tournament championship, 2 p.m.