GALESBURG — The Carl Sandburg College volleyball team will look to earn its third straight trip to the NJCAA Division II Championship when it plays in this weekend’s Region IV District B tournament at Lake County.
The Chargers (31-11), ranked 20th in the country, will begin their quest for a three-peat against the host Lancers (7-21) in the quarterfinals at 4 p.m. Saturday. The teams did not meet during the regular season. Sandburg is the No. 2 seed among District A teams, and Lake County is the No. 7 seed from District B in the crossover-format tournament.
The Region IV District A and District B tournament champions each qualify for the NJCAA Division II Volleyball Championship from Nov. 21-23 in Charleston, W.Va.
Should the top four teams from one district advance to the championship round of both the District A and District B tournaments, the championship matches would be played according to seed. In that scenario, Sandburg would play District A No. 3 McHenry County, and No. 1 seed Waubonsee would face No. 4 Sauk Valley.
Already this season, the Chargers have set a school record for victories and clinched their second straight Arrowhead Conference championship, sharing the title with Sauk Valley at 9-1.
REGION IV DIVISION II DISTRICT A & B TOURNAMENTS
At College of Lake County, Grayslake
Saturday’s matches
Quarterfinals
District A tournament
1: Waubonsee (A1) vs. Triton (B8), 10 a.m.
2: Kankakee (B4) vs. Black Hawk (A5), 4 p.m.
3: Bryant & Stratton (B2) vs. Kishwaukee (A7), noon
4: McHenry County (A3) vs. Morton (B6), 10 a.m.
District B tournament
5: Moraine Valley (B1) vs. Illinois Valley (A8), 2 p.m.
6: Sauk Valley (A4) vs. South Suburban (B5), 2 p.m.
7: Sandburg (A2) vs. Lake County (B7), 4 p.m.
8: Oakton (B3) vs. Highland (A6), noon
Sunday’s matches
Semifinals
District A
9: Winner 1 vs. Winner 2, 10 a.m.
10: Winner 3 vs. Winner 4, noon
District B
11: Winner 5 vs. Winner 6, 10 a.m.
12: Winner 7 vs. Winner 8, noon
Championships
District A: Winner 9 vs. Winner 10, 2:30 p.m.*
District B: Winner 11 vs. Winner 12, 2:30 p.m.*
* Championship matches would be reseeded if top four seeds from one district all advance