CANTON, Ga. - The Berry Vikings and Trinity Tigers have been selected to represent the Southern Athletic Association at the 2025 NCAA Division III Volleyball Championships.
The Division III volleyball bracket includes 64 teams with 43 qualifying automatically as conference champions. The reamining 21 entrants were determined by ranking in the NCAA Power Index (NPI).
Berry (24-7) earned the SAA's automatic bid to the tournament after capturing their eighth SAA tournament title on Saturday. The Vikings are set to take on Washington and Lee (23-9) in the first round of the regional hosted at Virginia Wesleyan on Nov. 20.
The two teams have already faced off this season, two weeks ago in Atlanta. The result left Berry on top at 3-1, but the ODAC opponent did not go away easily. In the tight battle, Madie Whitehead had a remarkable 19 kills and six blocks to lead the way while SAA tournament MPV Keira Kruk posted 11 kills and 16 digs. The pair of dynamic freshmen in Cali Armstead and Ava Brovet also showed up big for the Vikings in the win with Armstead's eight blocks and Brovet's 40 assists.
The winner of the Berry/Washington and Lee game will take on the advancing team of host Virginia Wesleyan (31-2) and John Jay (23-6). Also heading to Virginia Beach, Virginia for the regional will be Christopher Newport (24-7), Cortland (24-7), Juniata (27-5), and Grove City (20-8).
Trinity (22-5) earned an at-large bid into the tournament and will travel to MIT to take on Manhattanville (20-7) on Thursday.
With no history with Manhattanville, both teams step in to the match with a clean slate. Trinity holds the SAA Athlete of the Year in Reagan Whatley, leading the team with 306 kills. Courtney Pope was selected to the SAA All-Tournament team last week and has over 200 kills this season with 63 blocks. Leading the defensive will be Lauren McCarthy and her 129 blocks and Jenna Rodriguez who sits one dig away from 400 on the year.
The winner of the Trinity/Manhattanville game will face the advancing team of the Salisbury (28-6) and Colorado College (23-7) game.
The other teams in the regional are host MIT (27-3), Pacific Lutheran (16-9), William (19-7), and Franklin and Marshall (22-6).
For more information on all things SAA, visit the websites of any of the participating schools, or go to the SAA's home on the internet at
www.saa-sports.com. Be sure to stay up to date on all of your Southern Athletic Association news by following @SAA_Sports on Twitter (X) and @SAA_Sports on Instagram.