Tampa Grabs No. 1 Seed in SSC Tournament

ORLANDO, Fla. - The second-ever Sunshine State Conference Beach Volleyball Championship will be played April 10-11 on the campus of Saint Leo University. The tournament will take place on Saint Leo's beach volleyball courts, a five-court complex adjacent to the Saint Leo Tennis Center.

The tournament will follow a double-elimination format, except that the remaining team in the winner's bracket will face the advancing team from the consolation bracket once to determine the champion. All tournament matches will be played to a decision. 

Tournament seeding is based on TruVolley's most recent Collegiate Beach Volleyball rankings released Monday, April 6. For more information, visit their site here. In the event of a tie, tiebreaking procedures are conducted by the SSC staff. 

The University of Tampa grabbed the top spot after a regular-season record of 16-9. The Spartans enter the tournament undefeated against conference opponents, with their only losses coming from ranked opponents. Tampa currently stands as the highest ranked Division II beach volleyball team. The Spartans will have a first-round bye and face the winner of match one.

Palm Beach Atlantic University earned the No. 2 seed, finishing their regular season with a 16-12 record. The Sailfish's only conference losses were to Tampa. Palm Beach Atlantic also earned a first-round bye and will face the winner of match two.  

Saint Leo University earned the No. 3 seed and will face the No. 6 seed Barry University. The Lions finished with an 18-5 regular-season record, while Barry enters the tournament with a 5-14 record. Saint Leo enters the matchup holding a 3-0 record this season against the Bucs. The winner will advance to face Palm Beach Atlantic.

Florida Southern College is the No. 4 seed and is set to face host No. 5 Eckerd College. The Mocs had a 15-8 regular-season record, while the Tritons were 16-12. Florida Southern defeated Eckerd in both of their matchups this season. The winner will move on to face Tampa in the next round.

Select SSC teams may receive an invitation to play in the National Collegiate Beach Volleyball Tournament or the AVCA Small College Beach Volleyball Championships. The NC event will be played May 1 through May 3 at Gulf Place Beach in Gulf Shores, Alabama. AVCA Small College will be April 17 to April 19 at Gulf Shores Public Beach in Gulf Shores, Alabama. 

For more information, please visit the Championship Central page.