INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) will send two teams to the 2019 NCAA Division III Volleyball Championship. Interactive Bracket
Trinity University received the SCAC's automatic bid, and Colorado College received one of 20 at-large berths. This marks the 15th consecutive season and 19th overall time that the league has placed at least two teams into NCAA volleyball postseason competition.
In a battle of two of the nation's top 10 teams, seventh-ranked Trinity (33-4) defeated eighth-ranked Colorado College (30-4) on Sunday in the SCAC title game.
At the Newport News Regional, Trinity will take on Hunter College (15-17), winners of the automatic bid from The City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) on Friday. The winner of that opening round match will face the winner of Juniata College (22-8) and Virginia Wesleyan University (28-7) on Saturday.
Colorado College heads to Atlanta where the Tigers will take on Whitworth (20-5), winners of the automatic bid from Northwest Conference, in the first round. The winner of that first round match will move on to face the winner of Berry College (26-5) and Maryville (Tenn.) College (27-6) on Satuday afternoon.
Colorado College is making its 21st straight NCAA tournament appearance and 29th overall. Since joining the SCAC prior to the 2007 season, the Tigers are 12-12 in NCAA postseason play. Only three schools have more Division III tournament appearances than CC.
This season, CC led the league in hitting percentage (fourth in the nation) swinging at a .268 clip while also averaging nation-high totals in both assists-per-set (13.94) and kills-per-set (14.66).
Trinity earned its 24th tournament appearance and the program's seventh in the last eight years. The Tigers hold an all-time NCAA postseason record of 30-24, including a national-runner up finish in 1999 and a third-place finish in 2002. This season, Trinity has posted a .258 hitting percentage (eighth best in Division III) and are also ranked in the top 11 in the nation in blocks-per-set (2.22) and kills-per-set (13.77).
Regional competition will be Friday-Sunday, Nov. 15-17, at all sites except Grand Rapids and St. Paul, where competition will be Thursday-Saturday, Nov. 14-16.
The championship will be held November 21-23 at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with the American Rivers Conference serving as host.
