COLUMBIA, Ky. (April 1, 2019) – In anticipation for the first ever Mid-South Conference Men's Volleyball Tournament, the Webber International University men's volleyball team has been revealed as the No. 6 seed for the inaugural tournament that will take place beginning on Friday, April 5, in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Mid-South Conference officials released the 2019 MSC Men's Volleyball Tournament bracket on Saturday, March 30, following the conclusion of the regular season. The inaugural MSC Men's Volleyball Tournament, which will be held at Bowling Green High School in Bowling Green, Kentucky, begins on Friday, April 5, and concludes with the championship match late on Saturday, April 6.

The Warriors, who are in their second season as an official NAIA varsity men's volleyball program, finished their regular season 7-10 overall and 6-7 in conference matches during what was the first season of Mid-South men's volleyball competition.

The Warriors have already surpassed their win total from their inaugural season in 2018 when Webber finished 6-14 overall, and have defeated their rival Warner University (6-7, 6-7) for the first time in program history just five days ago.

Webber's first-year Head Men's Volleyball Coach Eric Praetorius said, "It's been a fun first season. We have had seven big wins already and we lost four different matches in five sets that were all very close.  The team has greatly improved since we started in January and we ended the regular season with a history-making victory. I think the team now understands what it takes to be a contender in the conference."

By entering the MSC Tournament as the No. 6 seed out of 10 total teams, the Warriors will have the benefit of getting a bye into the quarterfinal round, where they will meet up with third-seeded and North Division Champion Campbellsville University (18-7, 11-2) in the final match of Friday's opening day of action. The Warriors and the Tigers will do battle starting at 10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time / 9 p.m. Central Standard Time.

Earlier in the regular season on March 8, Webber and Campbellsville met up for a neutral match on the campus of Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee. The Warriors held a 2-1 lead in that meeting but could not hold on, and ultimately fell to the Tigers 3-2 (21-25, 30-28, 23-25, 25-18, 15-10).

Should the Warriors advance to the semifinal round, Webber will take on either second-seeded Life University (16-3, 11-2), seventh-seeded Bluefield College (14-16, 7-7) or 10th-seeded Cincinnati Christian University (1-23, 1-12) at 1:30 p.m. EST / 12:30 p.m. CST on Saturday, April 6. Webber has already defeated both Cincinnati Christian (W 3-0) and Bluefield (W 3-1) during the regular season, but has fell twice to Life both times by scores of 3-0.

The MSC Tournament Championship Match will take place at 8 p.m. EST / 7 p.m. CST on Saturday, April 6. The tournament champion receives the conference's automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament April 16-20, in Des Moines, Iowa.

Seeding for the tournament was based on the team's conference winning percentage throughout the 2019 regular season. However, Webber, Bluefield and Warner all tied with 6-7 conference records. In head-to-head among the three teams, Webber and Warner each won twice while Bluefield lost twice, dropping the Rams to the No. 7 seed. The Royals earned the fifth seed over the Warriors based on the fourth tiebreaker -- the percentage of points won in matches played among tied teams. Warner averaged 20.8 points per set while Webber averaged 20.4.