AMERICAN VOLLEYBALL RELEASE - NOVEMBER 12
TOURNAMENT TICKETS ALREADY PUNCHED
The six-team field for the inaugural American Athletic Conference Women’s Volleyball Championship has been set on the eve of the final weekend of the 2019 regular season. Cincinnati and UCF will represent the East Division while SMU, Houston, Tulane and Tulsa are set to represent the West Division at the conference championship matches Nov. 22-24 at The Venue in Orlando, Florida.
SEEDS STILL TAKING SHAPE FOR AMERICAN TOURNEY
Despite all six teams being penciled in for The American Volleyball Championship in Orlando, the final weekend of the regular season will play a huge role in the tournament matchups to decide the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championship. Cincinnati needs to only win one of its final two matches of the regular season to secure the East Division title and the top overall seed in the tournament, with UCF already locked into being seeded no lower than third. SMU currently leads the West Division by one match and, with a win against either Tulane on Friday and/or Houston on Sunday, can clinch the West Division crown and the tournament’s No. 2 seed. Houston and Tulane both remain in the running to potentially claim the top position in the West Division if both clubs sweep their final two matches and SMU happens to be swept for just the second time in 2019. The two division champions will receive byes into the semifinal round of The American tournament and only need to win two matches to capture the championship and automatic NCAA bid.
WHERE THE AMERICAN SITS IN THE NATIONAL RANKS
In the 10th full release of NCAA Division I statistics for the 2019 season on Nov. 10, Houston was slotted second in total team attacks, fifth in team kills, sixth in team digs, eighth in assists and ninth in team blocks; Cincinnati ranked first in kills per set, second in assists per set, fifth in hitting percentage and seventh in aces per set; UCF ranked third in total team blocks and fifth in blocks per set; and Tulane was fifth in total blocks. Individually Cincinnati’s Jordan Thompson was first in points, points per set, kills per set and total kills, ranking second in attacks per set and fourth in total attacks, Tulsa’s Taylor Horsfall ranked third in total digs, while Houston’s Katie Karbo was fourth in that same statistical category. Cincinnati’s Armania Heckenmueller ranked first and SMU’s Lily Heim third in assists per set, while Houston’s Rachel Tullos was first and Tulane’s Kayla Dinkins third in total blocks.