2017 USCAA Volleyball National Championship Teams and Seeds Announced
The United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) has announced the teams that will compete for the 2017 Volleyball National Championship in Virginia Beach, VA. This will be the second 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 9th through Saturday, November 11th at the Virginia Beach Field House.
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, so as to create a separate atmosphere from the rest of the facility. The two-pool field will consist of five teams per pool, with four teams from each advancing to a single elimination bracket on day two and three of the tournament.
Earning the overall top seed in this year’s field is for the second straight year is Florida National University from Hialeah, Florida. Florida National heads to Virginia Beach with a record of 28-5, which includes a win over defending National Champion, Florida College. Head Coach Carlos Huaroto-Luque will be looking to improve on their third place finish in last year tournament. The second seed in the tournament will St. Mary of the Woods College, who’s season included wins over Florida National and Florida College during a grueling regular season schedule. The Pomeroys enter the tournament with a 14-13 record.
The Florida College Falcons will be the third seed in the tournament and are looking for their fourth straight National Championship. The Falcons only dropped two matches all season to USCAA opponents, the number one seed Florida National University and the two seed St. Mary of the Woods College. The Scarlet Hawks of Illinois Institute of Technology will be the fourth seed and ranked top in the association in block assists. The team has won five of their last seven matches, including two over USCAA opponents.
The Carlow University Celtics are the fifth seed in the tournament. Kristina Hudock, who finished the season with over 290 kills, with lead Carlow in Virginia Beach. University of Cincinnati Clermont return to the national championship tournament after a two-year hiatus, seeded sixth. The Cougars defense ranked first in solo blocks and second in digs across the country.
The Wildcats from Johnson & Wales University-Charlotte are 18-12 on the season and earned the 7th spot in the field. As a team, they rank top ten in fifteen statistical categories, including kills, assists, and blocks. Individually, Kendall Watson ranks third in digs in the USCAA with an impressive 565 total for the season. With a victory over Penn State Fayette in last night’s PSUAC conference championship game, Penn State Brandywine will join in the field in Virginia Beach as the eight seed. The Lions are an impressive 25-2 on the season.
The ninth seed in this year’s tournament is the University of Maine Fort Kent Bengals. The Bengals finished the 2017 campaign with a record of 28-5 and return to Virginia Beach for a second straight year in the midst of a five-game winning streak. The final spot in the field will go to Penn State Fayette from Uniontown, Pennsylvania. Another returning team from the 2016 field, Fayette finished its regular season with a 23-7 record.
You can follow all the action by visiting the USCAA Fall Championship Week website. Live streams (internet permitting) and statistics will be available for each games of the tournament. A standard stream is free of charge and a high-definition feed will be available at $6.95.