INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – After finishing third in the South Atlantic Conference's Piedmont Division and advancing to the semifinals of the South Atlantic Conference Tournament, the Anderson volleyball team has been chosen as one of five at-large selections to the 2022 Southeast Region Tournament, and has been seeded fourth in the event, as announced by the NCAA selection Committee, late Sunday night.
Wingate will host the eight-team event, Nov. 18-20 at Cuddy Arena. The three-day event will begin Friday, Nov. 18, with the regional semifinals taking place on Saturday, Nov. 19. The regional title match is slated for Sunday, Nov. 20.
Anderson (21-7) will square off against Peach Belt Conference-member and fifth-seed Lander in Friday's opening round. The Bearcats (20-9) finished second in the PBC and had a five-match win streak snapped with a five-set loss to eventual conference tournament champion Flagler last Friday.
The Trojans and Bearcats met nearly four weeks ago at the Abney Athletic Center, with AU claiming a 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-18) sweep in Lander's first visit to the Abney Center since the 2013 season.
Friday's matchup will mark just the second meeting between the Trojans and Bearcats since the 2018 NCAA Southeast Regional and just the sixth matchup since the 2012 season. AU and Lander have met 19 times over the past 25 years, with Lander holding a 10-9 advantage in the overall series.
Joining the Trojans and from the SAC will be top-seed and host Wingate (29-2) and No. 3 seed Carson-Newman (27-5).
Wingate, the top seed in the SAC's Piedmont Division, won the SAC Tournament Championship by sweeping Carson-Newman, Saturday afternoon and has won five straight since losing to Anderson in late October. The Bulldogs will square off against eighth-seeded USC Aiken (19-13). As the fifth seed in the PBC Tournament, the Pacers became just the third team in PBC history to reach the tournament title contest, where they lost to Flagler in the finals.
Augusta (24-7), the Peach Belt's top seed, earned an at-large bid after being upset by USC Aiken in the PBC semifinals. The Lady Jags have won 12 of their last 14 decisions and will defend their Southeast Region title against UNC Pembroke (21-13), which claimed the seventh seed after knocking off Emmanuel for the Conference Carolinas' Championship.
Carson-Newman (27-5), the top seed in the SAC's Mountain Division earned the No. 3 seed after finishing as runners-up to Wingate in the SAC Tournament Championship. The Eagles had won seven straight decisions heading into the title matchup with Wingate.
C-N will face No. 6-seeded Flagler (18-9), which won the Peach Belt Conference's automatic bid with a dramatic five-set win over USC Aiken and has won nine of its last 11 decisions.
Anderson has reached the 20+ win plateau for the fifth straight season, the sixth time in eight years (excluding the Spring '20 COVID-19 shortened season) and the 13th time since the 1999 campaign, while averaging nearly 25 wins per year over the last five seasons.
The contest will mark the fifth straight appearance and eighth overall by Anderson in the NCAA Division II Women's Volleyball Championship, and the seventh since the 2013 campaign. AU also earned a berth in the 2008 NCAA Southeast Region NCAA Championship after winning the Conference Carolinas tournament title. (Due to COVID-19, the NCAA did not host a championship in 2020).
The winner of the regional quarterfinal contest will advance to meet the winner of the No. 1 seed Wingate/No. 8 seed USC Aiken match in Saturday's semifinal round.
2022 NCAA Southeast Region Tournament
at Wingate University (Cuddy Arena)
Friday, Nov. 18
#3 Carson-Newman vs. #6 Flagler (Noon)
#2 Augusta vs. # 7 UNC Pembroke (2:30 p.m.)
#4 Anderson vs. #5 Lander (5 p.m.)
#1 Wingate vs. #8 USC Aiken (7:30 p.m.)
Saturday, Nov. 19
Game 5: winner match 1 vs. winner match 2 (5 p.m.)
Game 6: winner match 3 vs. winner match 4 (7:30 p.m.)
Sunday, Nov. 20
(Region Championship Match)
Game 7: winner match 5 vs. winner match 6 (3 p.m.)
