UTB-TSC Capsules: Scorpions begin play in RRAC tournament Friday
Two victories in the Red River Athletic Conference Volleyball Tournament are all that stand in the way between the No. 2 University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College and the NAIA national championships.
UTB-TSC begins play in the RRAC Tournament at 5 p.m. Friday in Fort Worth in the semifinals against the winner of the match between Texas Wesleyan and Southwestern Assemblies of God. The tournament will be held at the Sid Richardson Center on the campus of TWU.
The Scorpions (32-1) are the top seed in the six-team tournament. They hope to advance to the championship match at 2 p.m. Saturday. UTB-TSC is the defending champion in the tournament. The Scorpions also won the conference crown in 2007.
The tournament champion gets an automatic bid to the NAIA national championships. Because of the Scorpions’ high ranking, they will likely avoid having to play in the opening round Nov. 20 and advance directly to the site of the finals Nov. 30 through Dec. 4 in Sioux City, Iowa.
The top 12 ranked teams get an automatic bid directly to the site of the finals.
Our Lady of the Lake is the second seed in the RRAC tournament, and will play in a semifinal at 7:30 p.m. Friday against the winner of an early match between Wiley College and Texas College.
Conference champion Scorpions waiting
The waiting game continues -- until 8 p.m. Sunday.
No. 24 University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College, which clinched its fourth straight Red River Athletic Conference Championship last week, awaits word as to who and where they will play in the opening round of the NAIA national championships Nov. 20.
Thirty teams will be in the opening round, and the Scorpions got their automatic invitation by winning the RRAC championship. The top 15 teams ranked in the in the Modified Ratings Percentage Index will have opportunities to play host to opening round games if their schools submitted a bid.
The University of Mobile (Ala.), which will play host to the final 16 teams in the national championship Nov. 29 through Dec. 4 in Orange Beach, Ala., is exempted from the opening round.
The new RPI, tournament field, and pairings will be announced by the NAIA at 8 p.m. Sunday. In the last RPI released Oct. 27, the Scorpions were ranked No. 41.
Thus, the chances that the Scorpions will play host to an opening round game are very slim. Scorpions coach Dan Balaguero is not selective about who or where the Scorpions will play.
"Wherever we end up going we will make the most of the experience and feel confident that we can win," Balaguero said.
In 2009, UTB-TSC was ranked No. 14 in the RPI and played host to an opening round game against Biola University (Calif.), which came to Brownsville from Los Angeles. The Scorpions were 17-0-1 and was tied with Biola at 2 after 90 minutes of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime. The game went into penalty kicks, and Biola prevailed 4-3.
UTB-TSC finished the 2009 season as the only undefeated NAIA men's soccer team in the country.
In 2008, the Scorpions also advanced to the opening round and traveled to Mobile, Ala. to face University of Mobile. UTB-TSC was eliminated 3-0.
Balaguero is not discounting the odds that the Scorpions will not be able to play host to an opening round game, since UTB-TSC did submit a bid to the NAIA.
"It is a slight possibility," Balaguero said. "I'm looking forward to following the NAIA conference tourneys on line this weekend. I am hoping for a few upsets and praying for a game in front of our fans."
Because the Scorpions are expected to have an RPI rating of about 20 to 25 when the new modified rankings are released Sunday, they may play a highly ranked team in the opening round.
If the Scorpions do travel on Nov. 20, some of the possible road trips include: Hastings (Neb.), 18-0; ranked No. 3 in the RPI, No. 3 in Coaches' poll; William Jewell (Mo.), 16-1; No. 4 in RPI, No. 7 by coaches; Belhaven (Miss.), 15-1-2; No. 8 in RPI, No. 10 by coaches; University of Maine at Fort Kent, 18-0; No. 9 in RPI, No. 6 by coaches; Kansas Wesleyan, 15-2, No. 11 in RPI, No. 9 by coaches; Azusa Pacific (Calif.), 16-3-1, No. 15 in RPI, No. 11 by coaches.
