INDIANPOLIS – Four of the top five schools in the Southeast Region are from the South Atlantic Conference and six overall as Carson-Newman is fifth in the opening batch of the region rankings released by the committee Wednesday afternoon.
"I am excited to see the regional rankings and see us fifth," Carson-Newman coach Ashley Tiernan said. "I think with our schedule and our win/loss record we are sitting exactly where we need to sit with a chance of going after Queens next weekend and seeing what happens with that match."
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 Nov. 16-18. 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.
Twelve of the 26 matches played by Carson-Newman this season have come against other regionally ranked foes with a 6-6 mark in those affairs. The Eagles have the second most difficult schedule of any team in the region, slightly behind Augusta.
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 checks in above No. 2 Anderson and No. 3 USC Aiken.
Queens is just above C-N in the standings thanks to a five-set win over the Eagles on Oct. 4 but will have a chance at redemption on Nov. 15. The Orange and Blue beat Lander and Augusta in mid-October while Flagler is the team that will be bumped at this point based on their No. 8 ranking.
Carson-Newman's next opponent, Lenoir-Rhyne, is ninth and its last win, Mars Hill, checks in at the bottom of the table at No. 10.
The Eagles will have at least two more chances to bolster the resume but with the SAC schools stacking the rankings, C-N can improve its positioning with wins down the stretch.
The next batch of regional rankings will be released on Nov. 13 leading up to the final weekend of the regular season. Carson-Newman is back in action on Saturday against Lenoir-Rhyne at 2 p.m. from Holt Fieldhouse.
|
Rank |
School |
Record |
|
1 |
Wingate |
24-1 |
|
2 |
Anderson |
18-3 |
|
3 |
USC Aiken |
23-2 |
|
4 |
Queens |
18-5 |
|
5 |
Carson-Newman |
19-6 |
|
6 |
Lander |
17-6 |
|
7 |
Augusta |
19-7 |
|
8 |
Flagler |
13-6 |
|
9 |
Lenoir-Rhyne |
14-11 |
|
10 |
Mars Hill |
14-11 |
- CN -
