Teams Announced for the USCAA Division I & II Volleyball National Championships
The United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) has announced the teams that will compete for the 2018 Volleyball National Championships in Virginia Beach, VA. This will be the third consecutive year teams will participate in USCAA Fall Championship Week; a first-class event combining USCAA National Championships in Volleyball, Soccer, and Cross Country. The Volleyball National Championship will take place Thursday, November 8th through Saturday, November 10th at the Virginia Beach Field House. This marks the first year that the USCAA Volleyball National Championships will be broken out into Division I and Division II.
The Virginia Beach Field House is a 175,000 square foot facility with eight regulation sized volleyball courts. The facility has a fully stocked food court, arcade, indoor Fun Zone, and locker rooms. The USCAA will reserve two courts for tournament play in the back of the facility to create a separate atmosphere for the championships. The Division I bracket will feature a modified pool play format with four teams competing in one pool. The Division II bracket will feature a pool play format consisting of two pools with three teams in each.
The 2018 USCAA Division I Volleyball National Championship features four teams coming off strong seasons. Earning the top overall seed in this year’s tournament is the University of Maine Fort Kent Bengals, who closed out their season with a 24-5 record. The Bengals are top 5 in the USCAA in kills, attacks, hitting percentage, assists, service aces, and blocks. Florida National University will be slotted into the second overall seed. They currently lead the USCAA in digs with 1,798 achieved in the regular season.
St. Mary of the Woods College has been given the third overall seed in this year’s tournament. They were able to finish their season on a two-game win streak and look to expand that into the upcoming competition. The Pomeroys were the runner-up the last two years in Virginia Beach. Silver Lake College has earned the final seed in the tournament; this squad is top 10 in the USCAA in kills, attacks, hitting percentage, service digs, and blocks.
The first ever 2018 USCAA Division II Volleyball National Championship features a competitive field. The UC Clermont Cougars are the #1 overall seed in this year’s tournament. They are first in kills, assists, assists per set, and digs around the association and will sit atop Pool A. The second seed goes to the Johnson and Wales-Charlotte Wildcats who will be the top team in Pool B. One of their top contributors is Moana Reid who leads the USCAA in assists and assists per set. Christendom College holds the third seed in the tournament; their team went 16-8 this season. They will compete in Pool B.
Penn State Fayette possess the fourth overall seed in this year’s tournament and will compete in Pool A. The Lions concluded their regular season on an eight-game win-streak to bring their overall record to 19-7 for the year. The Paul Smith’s Bobcats, the Yankee Conference champion, hold the fifth seed and will round out Pool A. The Bobcats are currently on a four-game win streak, led by senior Gabriella Buehler who is tops on the team in points and kills. The sixth and final seed to round out Pool B is Penn State Dubois, who had a regular season record of 19-5. The Lions are fresh off winning the PSUAC Conference Championship Tournament.
You can follow all the action by visiting the USCAA Fall Championship Week website. Live streams and statistics will be available for each game of the tournament. A standard stream is free of charge and a high-definition feed will be available at $6.95.
-USCAA