Courtesy: Southern Conference
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The ETSU Bucs earned the Southern Conference regular-season title and the top overall seed in the 2018 SoCon Volleyball Championship. The tournament, which features all nine teams in the conference, will be held Nov. 16-18 on the campus of UNCG in Greensboro, North Carolina.
The 2018 #SoConVB bracket is set! Play begins on Nov. 16 in Greensboro, N.C. 🏐🏆
Championship central: https://t.co/65LiDMfBks pic.twitter.com/PrKY0oGbjQ
— Southern Conference (@SoConSports) November 11, 2018
ETSU (26-5, 15-1 SoCon) beat Mercer on Saturday, though the near-perfect Bucs clinched the regular-season title last weekend. As the No. 1 seed, ETSU will face the winner of the tournament’s opening match on Friday, Nov. 16, between No. 8 seed Western Carolina (12-15, 6-10 SoCon) and No. 9 seed The Citadel (11-18, 4-12 SoCon). The Catamounts and the Bulldogs split during the regular season, with each team winning on its home court. Friday’s winner will advance to face the Bucs that afternoon at 2:30.
Samford (16-14, 11-5 SoCon) clinched the second seed in the tournament, ending the regular season with a 3-1 win over Western Carolina on Saturday. The Bulldogs will face No. 7 seed Chattanooga (10-19, 6-10 SoCon). Samford and Chattanooga split the regular-season matchups, also both winning at home.
Furman claimed the No. 3 seed in the tournament. The Paladins (12-15, 8-8 SoCon) fell to UNCG on Saturday in the regular-season finale. Furman and Mercer (15-12, 8-8 SoCon) both finished conference play 8-8 but the Paladins swept the regular-season meetings against the Bears to earn the No. 3 spot. Furman will face No. 6 UNCG in the quarterfinals at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. The Paladins and Spartans split the regular season meetings as Furman swept UNCG (13-15, 7-9) at home on Oct. 12.
Fourth-seeded Mercer will clash with Wofford (15-14, 7-9 SoCon), which won the tiebreaker over UNCG to claim the fifth seed. Mercer ended the season having won three of the final four contests, falling only at ETSU in the last regular-season contest. The teams, which will meet at noon on Friday, each won at home in the regular-season matches.
The semifinal round of the tournament will be held on Saturday, Nov. 17, with matches scheduled for 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., before the tournament culminates at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 18, with the championship match.
The tournament champion will earn the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Volleyball Championship.
2018 Southern Conference Volleyball Championship
Fleming Gymnasium ▪ Greensboro, N.C.
Friday, Nov. 16
First Round
Match 1: #8 Western Carolina vs. #9 The Citadel, 9:30 a.m. (SDN/Roku)
Quarterfinals
Match 2: #4 Mercer vs. #5 Wofford, 12 p.m. (SDN/Roku)
Match 3: #1 ETSU vs. Match 1 winner, 2:30 p.m. (SDN/Roku)
Match 4: #2 Samford vs. #7 Chattanooga, 5 p.m. (SDN/Roku)
Match 5: #3 Furman vs. #6 UNCG, 7:30 p.m. (SDN/Roku)
Saturday, Nov. 17
Semifinals
Match 6: Match 2 winner vs. Match 3 winner, 2 p.m. (SDN/Roku)
Match 7: Match 4 winner vs. Match 5 winner, 4:30 p.m. (SDN/Roku)
Sunday, Nov. 18
Championship
Match 8: Match 6 winner vs. Match 7 winner, 2 p.m. (ESPN3 or ESPN+)
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