MOBILE, Ala. - Be sure to follow the Savannah College of Art and Design Saturday (Nov. 21) as the Bees take on the University of Mobile in the opening round of the NAIA Volleyball National Championship.
The Bees and Rams will tangle for the third time in 2009 as the teams will face each other in the 5 p.m. Central time match at Pharr Gym. SCAD defeated Mobile 3-2 (26-24, 25-19, 19-25, 19-25 and 15-6) back in August in Savannah, Ga., in the SCAD Invitational. The two sides met a month later at the Lee University Invitational in Cleveland, Tenn., with SCAD winning 3-1 (25-17, 17-25, 30-28 and 25-22).
The winner advances to the final rounds of the NAIA National Championshhip presented by Siouxland Sports Medicine Foundation Dec. 1-5 in Sioux City, Iowa.
Live stats and
live video - free courtesy of the Mobile athletics department - are available for the match if you can't make the trip to Mobile.
The Bees (28-7) and the Rams (24-11) each earned one of the 27 automated berths to the 36-team national tournament. The Bees were champions of The Sun Conference while the Rams qualified as champions of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference. The Bees are making their fifth trip to the national tournament in the past six seasons while Mobile is advancing to their third consecutive event.
The top 11 teams and the host institution - Morningside College - receive a bye in the opening round matches and advance to the Tyson Events Center/Gateway Arena for the final rounds. The next 24 teams will play in the opening round matches with the 12 winners advancing to the finals site.
The final 24 teams will be placed into six pools and will play a round-robin pool play Dec. 2-4, with the top two teams from each pool advancing to the single elimination bracket starting Dec. 4. The championship match will take place at 8 p.m. Central time Dec. 5.