Championship Bracket
INDIANAPOLIS – Eight of the best are lined up to compete in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Volleyball Championship tournament with the bracket set to start on Tuesday evening with quarterfinal action.
The end of the regular season on Saturday featured intrigue as two different teams were able to secure a playoff spot. Findlay and Malone edged out Lake Erie for the seventh and eighth seeds to make the tourney.
Hosting first-round playoff games on Tuesday will be top seed and regular season champion Hillsdale, No. 2 Tiffin, No. 3 Walsh and No. 4 Kentucky Wesleyan (via tiebreaker vs. Cedarville).
All playoff games will be streamed live on the Great Midwest Digital Network and the final four teams will advance to the semifinals at the remaining top seed site.
The conference championship banquet with the unveiling of the all-conference team will be conducted Thursday before the semifinals and championship match are set for Friday and Saturday.
Hillsdale matches up against No. 8 seed Malone at 7 p.m. ET. The Chargers are ranked 11th nationally and have been No. 2 in the Midwest Region for the last two weeks while winning the regular season title for the third consecutive season since joining the league.
The Pioneers are making the postseason for the fourth consecutive year and are continuing what was a four-match road stint to conclude the league schedule. Malone did carve out an impressive sweep against Cedarville which spoiled the Yellow Jackets’ hopes for a first-round home game.
No. 7 Findlay will make the short trek to second-seeded Tiffin. The Oilers have been the conference tournament runner-ups for two years in a row, but life without Amanda Winner, Hailee Olson and Kara Scherger, isn’t easy.
Findlay will look to build on a nice stretch of three wins in its last four matches to pull the opening-round upset. Tiffin was positioned very in 2018, but a promising playoff run was cut short by Lake Erie in the opening round. The Dragons are winners of six of their last seven and have beaten UF in straight sets earlier this season.
Walsh, the No. 3 seed, welcomes No. 6 Trevecca Nazarene on Tuesday. It’s a battle of two first-year leaders coaching their respective programs with Jayme Plummer (formerly at Ursuline) against TNU’s Emily Moore.
After winning five straight at home, Walsh is looking to get back on track after a tough road spell. The Trojans are one of the youngest rosters in the league and have a pair of recent five-set wins vs. Tiffin and Findlay that catches your attention.
Kentucky Wesleyan and Cedarville have had their share of shining moments in the conference tournament as two of the longest-tenured members. The Panthers had the upper hand in the regular-season meeting and will attempt to advance in the comfort at home.
The Yellow Jackets are working through some injuries at the most inopportune time and the results have been a bit uneven since winning two of three at the Midwest Region Crossover. There is no doubt Cedarville would like to be at full strength on Tuesday.