2016 SBC Tournament Bracket
2016 SBC Tournament Central

NEW ORLEANS – The University of South Alabama volleyball team will play as the No. 6 seed in this weekend's Sun Belt Conference Tournament, as announced by the league office.

USA (16-13, 7-9 SBC) ended the regular season in second place in the SBC East Division, which marked the program's best-ever finish since the conference went to division play in 1991. South Alabama will open the tournament against No. 3 seed Texas State (20-11, 13-3 SBC), which finished second in the SBC West Division, at noon on Friday. 

The Bobcats defeated USA in the opening round of last year's SBC Tournament in Statesboro, Ga.  Every match of the SBC Tournament will broadcast live on ESPN3. Links for live stats as well as the live stream can be found through the 'Championships' section of SunBeltSports.org, as well as through the Jaguar volleyball schedule page at USAJaguars.com. 

Texas State defeated South Alabama 3-2 in the lone meeting between the schools earlier this season in Mobile, Ala. The Bobcats finished the regular season ranked third in the conference in kills per set (12.78) and assists per set (11.96), and ranked fourth in the league in hitting percentage (.206). In SBC contests, Texas State ranked third in assists per set (12.23), kills per set (13.03) and service aces per set (1.42). 

South Alabama finished the regular season ranked third in hitting percentage (.227), and fourth in the league in assists per set (11.69) and kills per set (12.39). The Jaguars ranked fourth in assists per set (11.37) in conference matches.

Mechell Daniel finished the regular season ranked tied for seventh in kills per set (2.78), and Sarah Richardson ranked fourth in the league in blocks per set (1.10). In SBC matches, Daniel ranked fourth in the conference in kills per set (3.00), and Richardson ranked fourth in blocks per set (1.20).

The winner of Friday's match will play the winner of No. 2 Coastal Carolina and No. 7 Georgia Southern at 4 p.m. Saturday afternoon. On the bottom-half of the bracket, No. 8 Georgia State will face No. 1 Arkansas State and No. 5 Little Rock will face tournament host No. 4 Texas-Arlington on Friday. The championship match is set for Sunday at 1 p.m.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).