Despite a first round exit in the Peach Belt Conference Tournament, the GRU Augusta Jaguars retained fourth place in the region to make the cut for the NCAA Southeast Regional.
It’s the first NCAA Volleyball Tournament appearance in the program’s history, which will take place in the Cuddy Arena on the campus of Wingate University in Wingate, N.C.
In their last matchup the Jaguars (26-8) fell to sixth seeded Lander as the third seed in the quarterfinals of the PBC Tournament. However, the team’s overall body of work during the regular season was enough to claim an at-large bid in the Regional Tourney.
This season was a landmark year for the Jaguars volleyball program, after obtaining the best record and most wins in a season.
In the quarterfinals the Jaguars will play against fifth-seed Anderson (25-8) on Thursday for the second time this year. The two programs first met Sept. 27, where Anderson prevailed in three-straight sets (25-20, 25-22, 25-21) at home.
The remainder of the matchups consists of No. 1 Wingate (31-2) against No. 8 Erskine (21-8), No. 2 seeded Armstrong (28-2) against No. 7 seed Lenoir-Rhyne (22-9) and third-seeded USC Aiken (21-8) against sixth-seeded Carson-Newman (26-6).
The winner of the Southeast Regional will advance to the finals Dec. 4-6 at Knights Hall in Louisville, Kentucky.
The team is guided be Peach Belt Coach of the year, Sharon Quarles. And will look to Peach Belt All-Conference senior Kristen Koch for leadership on the court.
