INDIANAPOLIS - On the heels of a dramatic come-from-behind win in the quarterfinals of the South Atlantic Conference Tournament less than 24 hours ago, the Anderson University women's soccer team is ranked ninth in the final weekly NCAA Southeast Regional Rankings, as announced by the NCAA on Wednesday afternoon.
Tuesday night's SAC Tournament win over fourth-seeded
Lenoir-Rhyne occurred too late to be reflected in today's rankings,
but will be taken into account by the NCAA Selection Committee on
Selection Sunday at the conclusion of the SAC Championships, with
the NCAA D-II Tournament selections scheduled to be unveiled
publicly on Monday, Nov. 9.
Six teams from each of the eight regions will advance to the NCAA
Division II tournament. In the Southeast Region, the tournament
champions from the SAC, Peach Belt, and Conference Carolinas will
receive an automatic bid, with three more at-large selections.
The Trojans are slated to face regionally top-ranked Carson-Newman in Friday's SAC Championship Semifinals in Rock Hill, S.C. Anderson edged C-N, 3-2, during the regular season in a contest that was played at the Upward Star Center in Spartanburg, S.C. Kick-off versus the Eagles at Manchester Meadows is set 5 p.m.
AU, which boasts a 14-3-1 record and is one of five SAC teams in this week's top-10, was ranked seventh in last week's regional poll and posted a road win over Mars Hill in its regular-season finale last Saturday in addition to advancing to the SAC Semifinals since the last ranking.
Carson-Newman and Wingate each moved up one spot this week, to first and second, respectively, with Columbus State stumbling to third after holding the No. 1 slot last week. North Georgia (fourth) and Armstrong (fifth) flipped spots from a week ago, with Belmont Abbey remaining steady at No. 6.
Queens and Lenoir-Rhyne each moved up a slot to claim seventh and eighth, respectively, with the Trojans looking for last night's result to propel the Black and Gold back into the top eight. Limestone dropped out of this week's rankings, with Tusculum making an appearance at No. 10.
