MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Belhaven volleyball team begins its quest to bring home a Southern States Athletic Conference Championship Wednesday afternoon at a neutral site in Montgomery, Alabama.

Belhaven finished the regular season with a 25-8 record, tied for the most wins in a season in school history. The Blazers claimed the number three seed in the tournament based on a 9-5 conference record, the highest the team has had since joining the SSAC two years ago.

The Blazers finished tied with Southern Wesleyan and Emmanuel for third in the conference, but through a series of tiebreakers, they ended up with the third slot. Belhaven had been in control of that third spot, but slid down the stretch with a couple of key SSAC losses.

Head Coach Jordan Lay is hoping that the rest the team had over the past week will refocus them after a tough end to the year.

“The long season of game after game and a lot of lengthy trips can wear on a team after a while. We took our foot off the pedal a bit at the end of the season, but the team is looking really strong during this last week of practice,” Lay said.

Belhaven is still looking for that record-breaking 26th win of the season after dropping two on the road against Loyola and Xavier in New Orleans over a week ago.

They will have their first opportunity on Thursday afternoon when they take on 9th seeded Coastal Georgia at 12:30 PM. The game will be the first of two games that Belhaven plays in the new pool-play format that the SSAC coaches voted to adopt this year.

Belhaven defeated the Mariners at Rugg Arena in straight sets back on September 29th, but Coastal Georgia gave the Blazers a run for their money with two close sets in the contest.

On Friday afternoon, Belhaven will be looking to avenge a loss to Southern Wesleyan, who shocked the Blazers three weeks ago. Belhaven led the match 2-0 in dominating fashion, but the Warriors put together a furious rally to win the match 3-2.

The match between Belhaven and Southern Wesleyan will begin at 12:30 PM on Friday afternoon.

The top two teams from each pool advance to the second round, so the Blazers will need to win at least one of the two opening round games to move on. However, Belhaven wants nothing but a spotless opening round.

“We are here to win a conference championship,” adds Lay, “and I know that this team can do it.”

For a full list of seedings and matchups, click here.