ROCK HILL, S.C. – Following Saturday afternoon's final regular season matches of the 2019 South Atlantic Conference volleyball season, the league office announced seeding for the SAC Tournament, which is to be held next week. The Lincoln Memorial University women's volleyball team has earned the No. 8 seed for the conference tournament and will take on top-seeded and 24th-ranked Wingate University in the quarterfinals Tuesday, Nov. 19 inside Cuddy Arena in Wingate, North Carolina.
 
The Lady Railsplitters went 10-12 in SAC play this fall, finishing eighth in the league's final regular season standings, while the Bulldogs (21-1 SAC) won their 15th overall, 13th in the last 14 years and second consecutive SAC regular season championship Friday night.
 
Following Tuesday night's quarterfinal matches at the top four seeds, the 2019 SAC Tournament semifinals and championship will be played next Friday and Saturday, Nov. 22-23 in Charlotte, North Carolina, at Queens University's Levine Center.
 
Tournament host Queens earned the No. 2 seed after going 19-3 in conference action, while Anderson claimed the No. 3 seed with a 17-5 SAC record. Carson-Newman is the No. 4 seed after posting a 16-6 mark in league play, followed by fifth-seeded Mars Hill and No. 6 seed Tusculum. Both the Lions and Pioneers went 12-10 in conference play, but Mars Hill went 2-0 against Tusculum during the regular season. Lenoir-Rhyne locked up the No. 7 seed, finishing just one match ahead of LMU with a 11-11 SAC record.
 
Tuesday night's tilt will provide the Lady Railsplitters their third matchup with Wingate this season. LMU went 0-2 against the nationally-ranked Bulldogs this fall but nearly took the opening set from Wingate inside Mary Mars Gymnasium on Oct. 18. The Lady Railsplitters were outdone in three sets in both outings with their visit to Wingate coming Sept. 27. The Bulldogs were ranked No. 24 in the nation in the two team's first meeting this season and Wingate visited Harrogate ranked No. 22 nationally.
 
LMU is 1-30 all-time versus Wingate with its lone victory coming in five sets inside Mary Mars Gym on Oct. 28, 2016.
 
Making their 13th-straight SAC Tournament appearance, the Lady Railsplitters have posted a 10-12 record in the conference's championship event. This is the first time LMU will enter the tournament as the No. 8 seed after being seeded No. 3 five times, earning the No. 6 seed three times, the No. 4 seed twice and the No. 2 and No. 7 seed both once.
 
The Lady Railsplitters have faced the Bulldogs in each of the last four SAC Tournaments and five times altogether in the league's championship. In 2008, LMU fell 3-0 to Wingate in the title match and endured the same result as the No. 2 seed in the 2016 SAC Tournament championship. In 2015, the Lady Railsplitters took the Bulldogs to five sets during the semifinals of the SAC Tournament before suffering a 3-0 setback to Wingate in the 2017 SAC Tournament quarterfinals. Last season, LMU reached the SAC Tournament title match for the third time in program history where it was upended in four sets by the Bulldogs. The two teams went toe-to-toe in a thrilling 41-39 second set after the Lady Railsplitters won the first, 25-17.
 
2019 SAC Volleyball Tournament Schedule
 
Tuesday, Nov. 19 (at higher seed)
Game 1: #1 Wingate vs. #8 Lincoln Memorial, 7:00pm
Game 2: #4 Carson-Newman vs. #5 Mars Hill, 7:00pm
Game 3: #2 Queens vs. #7 Lenoir-Rhyne, 7:00pm
Game 4: #3 Anderson vs. #6 Tusculum, 7:00pm
 
Friday, Nov. 22 (at Queens University of Charlotte)
Game 5: winner Game 1 vs. winner Game 2, 4:00pm
Game 6: winner Game 3 vs. winner Game 4, 6:30pm
 
Saturday, Nov. 23 (at Queens University of Charlotte)
Game 7: winner Game 5 vs. winner Game 6, 2:00pm
 
Stay tuned to LMURailsplitters.com, as well as LMU's social media platforms - @LMURailsplitter on Twitter, @LMURailsplitters on Facebook and @lmurailsplitters on Instagram, for complete coverage of Lady Railsplitter volleyball throughout the 2019 season.