ROCK HILL, S.C. --- The Tusculum College volleyball team is the No. 4 seed in the 2011 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Volleyball Tournament and will open against fifth-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne University this Friday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. This year's tournament is being played at Mars Gymnasium on the campus of Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tenn.

The Pioneers (17-11 overall) finished fourth in the final conference standings with a 10-8 SAC record. The winner of the Tusculum/Lenoir-Rhyne match will face the winner of the quarterfinal battle between top-seeded Wingate University and No. 8 seed Carson-Newman College. That semifinal match will be played on Saturday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. The SAC Tournament Championship will be played on Sunday at 2 p.m. with the winner earning the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament.

Other quarterfinal round match-ups include: No. 2 Catawba College vs. No. 7 Newberry College and No. 3 Lincoln Memorial vs. No. 6 Mars Hill College.

Tusculum has qualified for the SAC Tournament for 13 consecutive seasons and this will mark the third time the Pioneers and Bears have squared off in the quarterfinal round. Tusculum defeated Lenoir-Rhyne 3-0 to open the 2000 tournament. The two teams met again in the 2001 event as the Pioneers outlasted the Bears 3-2. Both tournaments were played in Greeneville as part of the Food Lion SAC Fall Sports Festival.

Friday will be the 23rd recorded meeting between the two schools. Tusculum leads the all-time series 20-12, including a sweep of this year's two matches, both by identical 3-0 scores. The Pioneers have won eight in a row against Lenoir-Rhyne (17-14), in a string dating back to 2006.

Tusculum advanced to the SAC Tournament championship match for the first time in school history last year, losing 3-1 to Wingate.

- SAC -

2011 Food Lion SAC Volleyball Tournament
Mars Gymnasium - Harrogate, Tenn.
Friday, November 11, 2011 (Quarterfinal)
No. 1 Wingate (27-0) vs. No. 8 Carson-Newman (16-13), Noon
No. 4 Tusculum (17-11) vs. No. 5 Lenoir-Rhyne (17-14), 2:30 p.m.
No. 2 Catawba (21-6) vs. No. 7 Newberry (15-14), 5 p.m.
No. 3 Lincoln Memorial (22-5) vs. No. 6 Mars Hill (14-11), 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, November 12, 2011 (Semifinal)
Wingate/Carson-Newman winner vs. Tusculum/Lenoir-Rhyne winner, 1:30 p.m.
Catawba/Newberry winner vs. LMU/Mars Hill winner, 4 p.m.

Sunday, November 13, 2011 (Championship)
Semifinal winners, 2 p.m.