Davidson’s volleyball team hosts the conference tourney this weekend, opening with a game Saturday night against No. 1 Samford. (Tim Cowie photo)

Samford and Georgia Southern will be the top seeds in their respective divisions for the Southern Conference volleyball championship, which runs Saturday to Monday at Davidson College. The Davidson Wildcats will open play at 7pm on Friday vs. Samford, which won last year’s tournament. 

Elon (16-15, 9-7) earned the No.2 seed in the North Division and will take on Furman (22-9, 10-6) in the first match of Saturday’s quarterfinals. The Phoenix defeated the Paladins, 3-1, in the teams’ only regular-season meeting.

Georgia Southern (24-6, 15-1) earned the No.1 seed in the South Division and will face UNCG (13-15, 7-9) in the second match of the quarterfinals. The Spartans earned the No.4 seed in the North Division.

College of Charleston (23-7, 14-2) earned the No.2 seed in the South Division and will face the South’s No.3 seed, Chattanooga (14-17, 8-8), in the third quarterfinal match. The Mocs ended the regular season on a four-match win streak, while the Cougars won their last five matches.

The final match of Saturday’s quarterfinals will see tournament-host Davidson (11-15, 7-9), the South’s No.4 seed, take on Samford (22-8, 14-2), the No.1 seed in the North Division. The Bulldogs, last year’s tournament champions, have won their last seven matches.

The winner of Monday’s championship game earns the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Volleyball Championships.

The quarterfinal and semifinal matches will be shown free of charge on SoConSports.com. Fans can also follow along with live stats at DavidsonWildcats.com. The championship matchup will be broadcast on ESPN3.

WANT TO GO?

Tickets are $10 per session for adults and $5 per session for children. The first session on Saturday consists of game one (10 a.m.) and game two (12:30 p.m.), while the final two games (4:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.) comprise the second session. Sunday and Monday will each feature one session. Students who show a student ID from any SoCon institution will be admitted free of charge.

2012 Southern Conference Volleyball Championship

November 17 (Saturday) Quarterfinals

#2N Elon vs. #3S Furman – 10:00 a.m.

#1S Georgia Southern vs. #4N UNCG – 12:30 p.m.

#2S College of Charleston vs. #3N Chattanooga – 4:30 p.m.

#1N Samford vs. #4S Davidson – 7:00 p.m.

November 18 (Sunday) – Semifinals

Elon/Furman winner vs. Georgia Southern/UNCG winner – 2:00 p.m.

College of Charleston/Chattanooga winner vs. Samford/Davidson winner – 4:30 p.m.

November 19 (Monday) – Championship

Championship Match (ESPN3), 6:00 p.m.

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