Nov. 13, 2009

Center Valley, Pa. - Despite losing a pair of matches last weekend, Army still has the best shot to end up as the host of the Patriot League Volleyball Championship when the dust settles after the final matches for all eight League teams on Friday and Saturday.

The Black Knights are tied at the top of the League standings with Colgate, and American is one game behind. All three teams are already in the Patriot League Tournament, and Lehigh is very close to joining the group as the Mountain Hawks are two games ahead of Bucknell and Lafayette with two games to go.

Entering the final weekend, Army and Colgate are both at 10-2 in the Patriot League, followed by American at 9-3. Lehigh is at 6-6, with Bucknell and Lafayette sharing fifth place at 4-8. Holy Cross and Navy have been eliminated from contention for the Patriot League Tournament.

On the final weekend, Army and Holy Cross will host Lehigh and Lafayette, while Colgate and Bucknell will welcome American and Navy.

In the sport of volleyball, ties in the final Patriot League standings will be broken using head-to-head League match record first, head-to-head set record between the tied teams next, and overall League set records of the tied teams third.

Here is a brief synopsis of the Patriot League Tournament outlook for each team heading into the weekend. The League Tournament will be held on Nov. 21-22, though if American hosts the event it would be from Nov. 20-21.

Army will lock up the No. 1 seed and hosting privileges for the League Tournament with wins over Lafayette and Lehigh. The Black Knights would prevail in a two-way tie with Colgate or a three-way tie with Colgate and American, but lose a two-way tie with American.

Colgate will be no worse than the No. 2 seed if it beats American on Friday. The Raiders need to finish ahead of Army in the standings to have a chance to host the Patriot League Tournament. If the Raiders lose to American on Friday, they would lose a three-way tiebreaker with the Eagles and Black Knights. A two-way tie with American would depend on the set differetial of the match: Colgate beat American, 3-1, in the teams' first meeting on Oct. 3.

American The Eagles can still host the Patriot League Tournament, but would need to beat Colgate and finish either ahead of Army in the standings or tied with the Black Knights while Colgate is a game behind. A tiebreaker with just Colgate would depend on the set differential of Friday's match. American would place second in a three-way tie with Army and Colgate.

Lehigh The Mountain Hawks make the Patriot League Tournament with a win in either of their final two games, or a loss by both Bucknell and Lafayette. The Mountain Hawks could not win a two-way tie with Lafayette or a three-way tie with Lafayette and Bucknell, and would have a two-way tie with Bucknell come down to overall League set records.

Lafayette The Leopards need two wins, two Lehigh losses and at least one Bucknell loss to make the Patriot League Tournament.

Bucknell The Bison need a pair of wins, a pair of Lehigh losses and two Lafayette wins to guarantee a spot in the Patriot League Tournament. Their fate would come down to overall League set record in a two-way tie with the Mountain Hawks.