ROCK HILL, S.C. --- Tusculum College will be the No. 5 seed and serve as host of the 2009 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Volleyball Tournament announced conference officials Sunday. The three-day, eight-team single elimination tournament will be held this Friday-Sunday at Pioneer Arena.

The Pioneers (18-13, 8-8 SAC) will face fourth-seeded Catawba College (16-10, 10-6 SAC) in a quarterfinal match this Friday at 2:30 p.m. Tusculum swept the two-match series over the Catawba Indians this year.

Wingate University, which claimed the SAC Championship by going undefeated in conference play for a third year in a row, is the No. 1 seed and will open the tournament on Friday at noon and face No. 8 seed Brevard College (15-14, 3-13 SAC). The Bulldogs (31-1, 16-0 SAC) are ranked 23rd in the nation in the American Volleyball Coaches' Association Poll and are the top-ranked team in the NCAA II Southeast Region.

At 5 p.m. on Friday, No. 2 seed Carson-Newman College (20-8, 12-4 SAC) will face seventh-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne University (19-14, 5-11 SAC) in the third quarterfinal match of the day. No. 3 seed Lincoln Memorial University (21-8, 10-6 SAC) will face No. 6 Newberry College (18-14, 7-9 SAC) in the final quarterfinal match on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

The winner of the Wingate/Brevard match will face the winner between Catawba and Tusculum on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in one semifinal. The other semifinal will have the winner between Carson-Newman and Lenoir-Rhyne meeting the winner of the LMU and Newberry match at 5 p.m.

The championship match is set for 2 p.m. on Sunday and will be web-streamed and available to view on the Internet.

Wingate is the three-time defending tournament champion and the winner of the tournament receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament.

- SAC -

Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Volleyball Tournament
Tusculum College ▪ Greeneville, Tenn.
Friday, November 13, 2009 ▪ Quarterfinal
No. 8 Brevard vs. No. 1 Wingate, Noon
No. 5 Tusculum vs. No. 4 Catawba, 2:30 p.m.
No. 7 Lenoir-Rhyne vs. No. 2 Carson-Newman, 5 pm
No. 6 Newberry vs. No. 3 Lincoln Memorial, 7:30 pm

Saturday, November 14, 2009 ▪ Semifinal
Brevard/Wingate winner vs. Tusculum/Catawba winner, 2:30 p.m.
Carson-Newman/Lenoir-Rhyne winner vs. Lincoln Memorial / Newberry winner, 5 p.m.

Sunday, November 15, 2009 ▪ Championship Match
Semifinal Winners, 2 p.m.