TAVARES, Fla. – The LMU beach volleyball team will close out the season this weekend in the AVCA Small College Beach Championships, which will be held at the Hickory Point Beach Complex in Tavares, Florida, Friday through Sunday.

Because it is an emerging sport, beach volleyball doesn't officially have any divisions in the NCAA. But with more and more schools at the Division II, Division III and NAIA levels adding the sport, the AVCA began sponsoring a tournament for those schools last season. Twelve teams from Divisions II and II will compete for a championship and the NAIA will have eight teams competing for their own championship this weekend.

The format for DII/DIII is that the 12 teams are seeded and divided into pools. They will then play in a three-match pool play on Friday, followed by cross-pool challenge play on Saturday and championship bracket play on Sunday. So each team is guaranteed at least six matches.

LMU (5-8) is seeded eighth, ahead of local rivals Tusculum (ninth) and Carson-Newman (eleventh). They will play in pool play on Friday against Spring Hill (14-10) at 9 a.m., Florida Southern (11-12) at 11 a.m., and Carson-Newman (2-21) at 3 p.m.

Amongst the pool play opponents, LMU is 2-2, with 4-1 and 5-0 wins over Carson-Newman and a pair of 4-1 losses to Florida Southern. Other schools that the Lady Railsplitters have faced this season who will be in the tournament are Tusculum (7-11), Stevenson (9-7), and Eckerd (1-17).

Expect to see Lindsay Nartker and Rylee Storms playing in the first flight. The duo are 8-5 on the season.

In flight two, Danielle Ged and Danielle Stachura should get the nod. They are 4-9 on the season.

Kai Wesemann and Sarah Jones have played in the third spot all season and have an 8-5 record there.

Caitlin Bethell and Emily Walter have seen the most action in the fourth flight this season. Their record this season is 6-5.

Abby Higgins and Brooke Taylor have seen the most time in the fifth spot this season, playing eight matches there.

Another duo that played this season and might see time this weekend are Erica Whiteaker and Tone Gill. Also on the roster with experience this season is Marissa Coutinho.