MOUNT BERRY, Ga. - All of the volleyball programs in the Southern Athletic Association will converge upon the Cage Center over the next three days for the 2022 Southern Athletic Association Championship.

Berry enters as the top seed in the tournament and the top-ranked team in NCAA Region VI. The Vikings went 20-4 during the regular season, with a 13-1 mark in SAA play to win the regular season championship of the league. On seven occasions during the regular season, Berry student-athletes earned SAA Player of the Week honors in volleyball, with Kate Whittle taking the defensive award on three different occasions.

Berry opens tournament play at 5 p.m. Friday against Rhodes. The Vikings swept the Lynx in both meetings this season, winning in Memphis, Tenn., 25-13, 25-14, 25-14, before winning the return contest in the Cage Center 25-13, 25-18, 25-12.

The tournament begins Friday at 12 p.m. as Birmingham-Southern faces Millsaps. BSC, the No. 2 seed in the tournament, has dropped five matches in a row, including a pair of 3-2 losses in the final weekend of SAA regular season play to Berry and Oglethorpe. The Panthers last swept an opponent Oct. 9 at Rhodes.

Millsaps went 3-11 in SAA play and enter as the No. 7 seed. The Majors dropped the first match of the season series at home to BSC, 3-0, and then took the first set before losing 3-1 Oct. 12 in Birmingham, Ala.

The 2 p.m. match features No. 3 seed Centre facing No. 6 seed Hendrix. Centre went 9-5 in SAA play in 2022 and has the distinction of being the only SAA team other than Berry to win at the Cage Center so far in 2022, topping Berry 3-2 for the Vikings' only SAA loss in the regular season.

In the season series, both schools won on its own home court in four sets. On Sept. 25, Centre dropped the third set but took the match, 3-1. In Conway, Ark., Oct. 22, the Warriors dropped the third set but won the match 3-1.

Hendrix went 5-9 in SAA regular season play in 2022, with wins over Centre and No. 4 seed Oglethorpe to its credit.

Friday's final match is slated for 7 p.m. and will feature the Stormy Petrels against No. 5 Sewanee. Oglethorpe earned the higher seed outright after its 3-2 win over BSC in the SAA regular season finale gave it a 7-7 mark in league play, compared to a 6-8 mark for the Tigers.

Oglethorpe swept the season series against Sewanee, winning both matches in four sets.

Saturday's semifinals start with the winner of Friday's first match facing the winner of the second match of the tournament, with first serve set for 4 p.m. The second semifinal follows suit at a scheduled time of 6 p.m. Sunday's SAA Championship match is set for 1 p.m. EST.