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Region Performance Breakdown (PDF)
INDIANAPOLIS – In a poll heavily slanted towards the South Atlantic Conference, Carson-Newman saw its name sitting in seventh in the first round of NCAA regional rankings, the guideline for the NCAA Tournament, released on Wednesday.
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. 2-4. The winner of the region will advance to the NCAA National Championships from Dec. 9-11 in Tampa, Fla.
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.
Six of the top seven teams in the rankings were out of the SAC and seven total clubs received a slot in the top 10 of the poll. Tusculum, Lenoir-Rhyne, Wingate and Anderson were the top four, the exact same as the current league standings. Flagler is the lone non-SAC team in the top seven checking in at No. 5 just ahead of Mars Hill. Below the Eagles are Augusta, USC Aiken and Queens. C-N holds a head-to-head win over the Jaguars and split with the Pacers.
Overall, the Orange and Blue are 4-6 against the top 10 with their best victory coming in a sweep of Lenoir-Rhyne on Oct. 19. Diving into the digits, the Eagles are seventh in the ratings percentage index playing the fifth-toughest schedule in the region behind Lenoir-Ryhne (.562), Coker (.552), Tusculum (.546) and Lincoln Memorial (.538).
In one of the key performance indicators, Carson-Newman is 7-3 in its last 10 matches and will have a chance to improve that number with a home match against Tusculum next Friday and a quarterfinal matchup that is likely to be on the road against one of the top four in the SAC standings.
The official NCAA selection show is scheduled to air Monday night, Nov. 22, at 7:30 p.m. on ncaa.com where the 64 teams from Division II will be announced for the 2021 NCAA Division II Women's Volleyball Championships.
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