CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Western Carolina volleyball begins its quest for a Southern Conference Tournament crown on Friday afternoon as the fifth-seeded Catamounts face No. 4 seed Wofford in the first of four tournament quarterfinals at 12:30 p.m. Eastern / 11:30 a.m. Central in Birmingham, Ala.
Samford University's Pete Hanna Center is the host site for the second straight season with the winner of the WCU/Wofford match facing the winner of the match between No. 1 seed and regular season co-champion Mercer and ninth-seeded seeded Furman on Saturday at 6 p.m. Eastern /5 p.m. Central. The championship match is scheduled for Sunday at 5 p.m. Eastern / 4 p.m. Central. All matches in the tournament will be streamed on ESPN+ (
paid subscription required).
WCU finished the regular season 11-16 overall and 7-9 in league matches as part of a four-team tie for fifth place. The Catamounts claimed the fifth seed through the league's tiebreaker process. Senior
Merry Gebel was a second-team All-Conference selection, while
Bailey Hartsough earned a spot on the league's All-Freshman team.
Wofford went 15-13 and 9-7 in conference play, finishing in a tie for third and earning the fourth seed. Like Gebel, sophomores Sarah Barham and Emily Hodsdon were dubbed second-team All-SoCon with Sarah MacLean taking a spot on the all-freshman team.
The Terriers swept the two regular season matches, claiming a 3-1 win in Spartanburg on Oct. 9 and outlasting WCU 3-2 in a five-set thriller on Nov. 5 in Cullowhee. This is the first meeting between the teams in the SoCon Tournament. WCU has won three tournament championships all-time since 1983, winning its second of consecutive tournament titles back in 1986. The Catamounts also have five runner-up finishes at the conference-champion crowning event, most recently in 1998.
Keep track of everything related to Catamount volleyball and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@wcu_catamounts, @catamountvb), and Twitter (@catamounts, @catamountvb).
