CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Western Carolina begins its quest for a Southern Conference Tournament crown on Friday night as the third-seeded Catamounts face No. 2 seed Mercer at 7:30 p.m. Eastern in Birmingham, Ala.
The winner of Friday's two semifinal matches will face each other in the championship match on Saturday at 5 p.m. Eastern. The tournament champion will claim the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Volleyball Championship which will be held in Omaha, Neb. from April 14-24. All matches will be streamed on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with a link to free live stats available on
www.catamountsports.com
Fans will be allowed to attend the tournament hosted at Samford's Pete Hanna Center. Single-day adult tickets are $15 with youth (5-17) single-day tickets priced at $10. Students with a valid SoCon ID are free, as are those ages 5 and under.
WCU is 11-7 overall and 11-5 in league play for the second straight season. The Catamounts enter the tournament on a season-best six-match winning streak with each victory coming in straight sets. Freshman
Destinee Dorsey was tabbed as the league's Libero of the Year and also earned a spot on the All-Freshman Team. Junior
Merry Gebel was named first-team All-SoCon while
Julia Gardon also took a spot on the All-Freshman Team.
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Mercer is 14-7 on the season and posted a 13-3 league mark to earn a share of the regular season title with Samford. The Bears swept their weekend series against Furman with a pair of 3-1 wins and have won four straight matches heading into the conference tournament. Sophomore Jaida Howell and junior Anne Karle earned first-team laurels with junior Brittany Major taking a spot on the Second Team. Head coach Derek Schroeder was honored as the league's Coach of the Year.
The Bears and Catamounts meet for the second straight SoCon Tournament. In 2019, Mercer earned a 3-2 win over the Catamounts in the quarterfinal round. WCU won both regular season meetings this season in Cullowhee on March 14 and 15. The winner will advance to Saturday's SoCon Championship match against the winner of No. 1 Samford and No. 4 Wofford match-up.
Keep track of everything related to Catamount volleyball and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@wcu_catamounts), and Twitter (@catamounts, @CatamountVB).
