INDIANPOLIS – With the end of the regular season in focus, the penultimate NCAA volleyball Region Rankings were released Wednesday as Carson-Newman held steady at fifth on the ledger with two contests remaining in 2019.
The top eight teams make the NCAA Division II Playoffs with an automatic qualifier coming from the South Atlantic Conference, the Peach Belt Conference and Conference Carolinas. The No. 1 team in the region will host the eight teams for three straight days from Dec. 5-8. The winner of the region will advance to the NCAA National Championships from Den. 12 to Dec. 14 in Denver, Colo.
Conference Carolinas does not have a team in the top 10 but will receive a bid from its conference tournament champion and be seeded eighth bumping a team from the SAC or Peach Belt.
Thirteen of the 27 matches played by Carson-Newman this season have come against other regionally ranked foes with a 7-6 mark in those affairs. The Eagles have the fourth-toughest schedule of any team in the region behind Augusta, Georgia College and Lincoln Memorial.
The Eagles produced the lone win against the top ranked team in the region, Wingate on Oct. 19 taking down the Bulldogs in four frames. Cuddy Arena will be the site of the regional barring a major collapse based on the performance indicator as Wingate.
The only true movement in the region came above the Orange and Blue with USC Aiken and Queens moving up a slot each while Anderson dropped two spots down to fourth. The Royals, C-N's next opponent, hold a season sweep of the Trojans while Anderson beat the Eagles twice.
Carson-Newman should have chances to continue to bolster its status with a road trip to Queens on Friday looking to avenge an Oct. 4, five-set loss to the Royals. Six of the top 10 teams in the region hail from the SAC. With the conference tournament next weekend, the Eagles could continue to build their resume getting ready for the postseason.
Since Oct. 5, C-N is 14-1 with nine sweeps losing a grand total of eight sets in the previous 15 matches. Based on the NCAA's RPI, the Eagles rank fourth in the region with a .605 mark thanks to a 6-1 record against non-conference teams.
Looking in the rearview mirror, the team from Mossy Creek has head-to-head wins over Lander and Augusta. The Bearcats saw a five-match winning streak end with losses at Aiken and Flagler last week while the Jaguars have won six of their last eight.
The next batch of regional rankings will be released on Nov. 20 leading up to the conference tournaments. Carson-Newman has road affairs against Queens and Catawba to close out the regular season starting Friday night at 7 p.m.
|
Rank |
School |
Record |
|
1 |
Wingate |
26-1 |
|
2 |
USC Aiken |
24-3 |
|
3 |
Queens |
20-5 |
|
4 |
Anderson |
20-5 |
|
5 |
Carson-Newman |
21-6 |
|
6 |
Lander |
18-8 |
|
7 |
Augusta |
22-8 |
|
8 |
Flagler |
20-7 |
|
9 |
Lenoir-Rhyne |
15-13 |
|
10 |
Mars Hill |
14-13 |
- CN -