Region Performance Breakdown (PDF)
INDIANAPOLIS – In the second round of NCAA regional rankings, Carson-Newman stood pat at seventh as the South Atlantic Conference once again dominated the top of the poll seeing six of the top seven teams represent the league announced 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.
Despite being swept in back-to-back matches last week, Tusculum held onto to the top slot followed closely by Wingate. Anderson bumped up to third as they have recorded seven straight sweeps. Lenoir-Rhyne dipped to fourth after being swept by Wingate and losing in four frames to Mars Hill.
Flagler and Mars Hill were the two teams ahead of the Eagles standing pat on the ledger while Augusta and USC Aiken held strong at eighth and ninth. Conference Carolinas saw Francis Marion slide into the top 10 at No. 10 thanks to a 14-2 mark in league action. The tournament champion will receive an automatic bid and bump an at-large bid from rankings.
Despite losing to a sub-.500 Catawba team over the weekend, the Eagles maintain a .526 strength of schedule, better than seven of the nine other teams and the Indians were No. 10 in RPI. Carson-Newman also sits at 7-3 in the last 10 and has a prime chance to pad the resume hosting Tusculum on Friday night at 7 p.m.
"It's pretty big now with the loss on Saturday to Catawba," Carson-Newman coach Ashley Tiernan said. "It would mean a lot to the regional rankings and the RPI and everything that goes into that. It is what it is and it's going to happen the way that it's supposed to happen whether we win or lose we are going to hope for the best when it comes to regionals."
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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