Two league matches still remain in the middle and bottom end of the Conference Carolinas, but mostly everything is set in stone as to who will be what seed into the Conference Carolinas Tournament. That remains the case at the top, as King’s big week and win over Barton caused a split for the regular season conference title. It also set in stone the fact that the Tornado will be the top seed in the league’s postseason tournament, which is big for hosting reasons.
With new story-lines emerging and a new season of sorts in league play commencing, VolleyMob will be giving conference updates. Below is analysis as well as the weekly Conference Carolinas table, awards, matches of the week and power rankings:
CONFERENCE CAROLINAS TABLE:
| TEAM | CONF. | OVERALL |
| #18 King | 15-1 | 19-5 |
| (RV) Barton | 15-1 | 19-7 |
| Mount Olive | 11-5 | 15-12 |
| Belmont Abbey | 8-7 | 12-14 |
| North Greenville | 6-9 | 12-15 |
| Emmanuel | 5-11 | 9-16 |
| Limestone | 5-11 | 8-19 |
| Erskine | 4-11 | 7-18 |
| Lees-McRae | 1-14 | 3-21 |
WEEKLY HONORS:
MATCHES OF THE WEEK:
- April 10: Lincoln Memorial at #18 King
- April 11: Belmont Abbey at North Greenville
- April 13: Erskine at Lees-McRae
VOLLEYMOB CONFERENCE CAROLINAS POWER RANKINGS:
- King
- Barton
- Mount Olive
- Belmont Abbey
- North Greenville
- Limestone
- Emmanuel
- Erskine
- Lees-McRae
REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS
- #18 King Tornado
King did a great job of staying right on Barton’s heels all season long despite being swept by the Bulldogs earlier. That set them up to where a win over Barton in four sets last week put the two with the same record in the league. Although Barton won the total sets between the two 4-3, the tiebreaker in the Conference Carolinas is actually sets won/lost against the league. King’s mark was better, so while the two share the crown, the Tornado earn the #1 seed for the Conference Carolinas Tournament. The importance is that should King win their quarterfinal match, they would get to host the final four teams in the semifinal and potentially championship rounds – a pretty big deal for a team that is 10-0 at home this season.
- (RV) Barton Bulldogs
Barton once again earns a piece of the Conference Carolinas title, but it’s not as good as they would have hoped for as they fall to the #2 seed. They can hope that King loses to where they could host in the final four, but that would be extremely unlikely. That means they would have to be road warriors – where they’ve been good at 9-4, but not as strong as their 10-1 mark at home. The biggest key to a potential rematch with King for an NCAA Tournament bid will be Barton’s offense, as they were solid in the win over King earlier this season, but hit just .147 in the second go around last week. King was also clicking on all cylinders with a .347 day, but you wonder if a potential third match in the championship would favor the Bulldogs who have the high-pressure experience in winning the tournament last season while King was upset in the semifinals.
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