Volleyball Enters AAC Tournament As No. 1 Seed

ASHEVILLE, NC – The bracket for the 2021 Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Volleyball Tournament is out, and the Bryan College Lady Lions have earned the No. 1 seed. 

The 10-team, single-elimination tournament gets underway on Wednesday, Nov. 10, and runs through Friday, Nov. 12, at the MeadowView Marriott Convention Center & Conference Resort in Kingsport, Tenn. Fans are allowed to attend the tournament, and tickets can be purchased by clicking here.

The Lady Lions will face the No. 9 seed Milligan University. Bryan’s match will be played at 11:00AM on November 11th. 

Bryan and Columbia International are regular-season co-champions as both finished with 12.5 points in the standings. Since it defeated Columbia International in the only regular-season meeting, Bryan earned the No. 1 seed and receives an automatic berth to the NAIA National Championship Tournament.

The AAC has one other automatic berth to award, which will go to the tournament champion.

Since teams play an unbalanced schedule with eight teams playing 21 conference games while seven teams play 20, a point system is used to determine the seeding for the tournament. A team receives a half-point for winning a match within its division and one point for a win over a team from the other division. In all, the maximum number of points a team can earn is 14.

Here are the tournament seeds:

1. Bryan (23-5 overall, 19-2 AAC) – 12.5 points*
2. Columbia International (27-7, 18-2 AAC) – 12.5 points*
3. Reinhardt (19-11 overall, 15-5 AAC) – 10.5 points
4. Bluefield (20-10 overall, 16-5 AAC) – 10 points
5. Brenau (19-12 overall, 13-7 AAC) – 9.5 points**
6. Union (18-13 overall, 14-7 AAC) – 9.5 points**
7. Point (13-15 overall, 10-10 AAC) – 7 points***
8. St. Andrews (10-24 overall, 9-11 AAC) – 7 points***
9. Milligan (13-18 overall, 11-10 AAC) – 7 points***
10. Montreat (12-17 overall, 8-13 AAC) – 5.5 points

*-Bryan received the No. 1 seed since it defeated Columbia International during the regular season.

**-Brenau earned the No. 5 seed since it defeated Union in their only meeting during the regular season.

***-Point is the No. 7 seed since it defeated Milligan in their only meeting and beat St. Andrews twice. St. Andrews is the No. 8 seed since it defeated Milligan in their only meeting during the season.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Wednesday, Nov. 10

• Game 1 – No. 7 Point (14-15) def. No. 10 Montreat (12-18), 3-0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-23)
• Game 2 – No. 9 Milligan (14-18)…