Armstrong, Flagler Advance to NCAA Volleyball Tournament

INDIANAPOLIS, IND – Armstrong Atlantic State and Flagler both learned late Monday that they will have the opportunity to compete for the national championship as the NCAA released the 64-team volleyball tournament field.  Flagler will be the #2 seed at the Southeast Regional, which begins on Friday, while Armstrong is the #3 seed.  The regional will be hosted for the fourth year in a row by unbeaten Wingate.

Flagler (28-6 overall, 13-1 Peach Belt) makes its third consecutive Southeast Region appearance. The Saints won the regional title in its first year (2009) and were runners-up last year. Flagler captured a share of its third consecutive Peach Belt Conference regular season title and won its third-straight conference tournament title.

Olivia Snipes was selected as the PBC Tournament Most Valuable Player and joined Dianna Craine on the All-Tournament Team.

Facing the Saints in the first round will be Newberry College (16-15, 7-11 South Atlantic), the No. 7-seed in the region. .

The Saints defeated the Wolves 3-2 in the first match of the USC Aiken Invitational on Sept. 9. The winner of the Flagler-Newberry match will face the winner of the No. 3 Armstrong Atlantic State University (35-2, 13-1 PBC) and No. 6 Tusculum College (18-12, 10-8 SAC).

The Pirates (35-2) are the No. 3 seed in the NCAA Southeast Region and will face sixth-seeded Tusculum (18-12) in a first-round match on Friday, November 18, at a time to be determined. This is the fourth straight NCAA Championships berth for the Pirates and the ninth overall for Armstorng volleyball, all coming since 2000.

The top seed in the tournament is the host school, Wingate University (30-0, 18-0 SAC). The Bulldogs won the South Atlantic Conference regular and post season titles. They will face No. 8-seed Lees-McRae College (27-8, 18-0 Conference Carolinas), the regular and post season champions of Conference Carolinas.

2011 NCAA Southeast Regional
Hosted by Wingate

#1 Wingate vs. #8 Lees-McRae
#2 Flagler vs. #7 Newberry
#3 Armstrong vs. #6 Tusculum
#4 Lincoln Memorial vs. #5 Catawba