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| Pairings are set for the '19 West Region Volleyball Showcase. |
Pod assignments are set for this fall’s D2 West Region Volleyball Showcase, a three-conference tournament which once again will feature every Division II squad from the GNAC, PacWest and CCAA competing in a total of 72 matches across six California venues.
The 2019 Showcase will take place the weekend of Sept. 12-14 and include a scheduling twist unique to the five-year-old festival, which launched in 2014 as a two-conference "challenge" between the GNAC and the PacWest (the CCAA was added in 2016 to make the tournament an all-region affair).
Whereas in past years each of the pods featured "like" conference seeds squaring off against each other (e.g., the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds in one pod, the Nos. 3 and 4 seeds in another, etc.), the 2019 Showcase will feature a “snake” alignment of six different-numbered seeds at every site (either 1-6 or 7-13). With one exception, each conference will continue to have two teams at each pod (see pairings below).
The pairings adjustment is intended to de-emphasize what has been viewed by some as an over-reliance on the previous year's conference standings in determining each pod's makeup -- particularly since year-over-year changes to a team's roster can drastically alter its prospects for the upcoming season and thus skew its Showcase seeding in either direction. (Note: team seedings are determined by each league and based on the previous year's final regular-season conference finish).
The new pairings format, adopted by the three conferences last spring, was the brainchild of Northwest Nazarene coach Doug English.
For the 2019 Showcase, teams that finished in the top half of last season's conference standings will be distributed across three pods while teams that finished in the lower half of the league standings will be spread out through the three other pods.
The three pods in the upper half of the crossover will each feature two of the top six seeds from each conference – one league will provide the Nos. 1 and 6 seeds, another the Nos. 3 and 4 seeds, and another the Nos. 2 and 5 seeds. The three pods in the lower half of the crossover will have the conferences collaborating to provide the Nos. 7 through 13 seeds to form the event's final groupings (the pod at San Francisco State varies slightly because it features three CCAA teams, two PacWest teams and one GNAC team due to the difference in the number of members in each conference)
Whereas in past years each of the pods featured "like" conference seeds squaring off against each other (e.g., the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds in one pod, the Nos. 3 and 4 seeds in another, etc.), the 2019 Showcase will feature a “snake” alignment of six different-numbered seeds at every site (either 1-6 or 7-13). With one exception, each conference will continue to have two teams at each pod (see pairings below).
The pairings adjustment is intended to de-emphasize what has been viewed by some as an over-reliance on the previous year's conference standings in determining each pod's makeup -- particularly since year-over-year changes to a team's roster can drastically alter its prospects for the upcoming season and thus skew its Showcase seeding in either direction. (Note: team seedings are determined by each league and based on the previous year's final regular-season conference finish).
The new pairings format, adopted by the three conferences last spring, was the brainchild of Northwest Nazarene coach Doug English.
For the 2019 Showcase, teams that finished in the top half of last season's conference standings will be distributed across three pods while teams that finished in the lower half of the league standings will be spread out through the three other pods.
The three pods in the upper half of the crossover will each feature two of the top six seeds from each conference – one league will provide the Nos. 1 and 6 seeds, another the Nos. 3 and 4 seeds, and another the Nos. 2 and 5 seeds. The three pods in the lower half of the crossover will have the conferences collaborating to provide the Nos. 7 through 13 seeds to form the event's final groupings (the pod at San Francisco State varies slightly because it features three CCAA teams, two PacWest teams and one GNAC team due to the difference in the number of members in each conference)
As usual, every team will play four matches in the Showcase – one each against the other out-of-conference foes in its respective grouping (the only exception occurring in the San Francisco pod).
Because in-region non-conference results can be critically important when determining the five at-large berths to the eight-team NCAA West Regionals, this event has the potential to make or break the hopes of any team with postseason playoff aspirations.
There is absolutely no doubt the Showcase has been a tournament of immense significance for the GNAC, which has emerged with the event's best conference win-loss record in four of the previous five editions (and been rewarded mightily, I might add, when the NCAA has announced the regional brackets every year since 2014).
Because in-region non-conference results can be critically important when determining the five at-large berths to the eight-team NCAA West Regionals, this event has the potential to make or break the hopes of any team with postseason playoff aspirations.
There is absolutely no doubt the Showcase has been a tournament of immense significance for the GNAC, which has emerged with the event's best conference win-loss record in four of the previous five editions (and been rewarded mightily, I might add, when the NCAA has announced the regional brackets every year since 2014).
Based on the agreed-upon three-year rotation between the leagues, the CCAA is serving as this year’s host conference. Competition will occur at the following CCAA campus sites: Cal State San Bernardino, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State LA, Stanislaus State, San Francisco State and UC San Diego.
Below are the pod pairings (each team's respective conference seed is listed in parentheses). Match schedules for each pod are expected to be released in February.
2019 West Region Volleyball Showcase Pod Pairings
San Bernardino Pod
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| GNAC | PacWest | CCAA |
| (3) Alaska Anchorage | (2) Biola | (1) Cal State San Bernardino^ |
| (4) Simon Fraser | (5) Point Loma | (6) Cal State San Marcos |
| Pomona Pod | ||
| GNAC | PacWest | CCAA |
| (1) Western Washington | (3) Chaminade | (2) Cal Poly Pomona^ |
| (6) Seattle Pacific | (4) Hawaii Hilo | (5) Cal State Monterey Bay |
| Los Angeles Pod | ||
| GNAC | PacWest | CCAA |
| (2) Central Washington | (1) Azusa Pacific | (3) Cal State LA^ |
| (5) Alaska | (6) Hawaii Pacific | (4) Cal State East Bay |
| Stanislaus Pod | ||
| GNAC | PacWest | CCAA |
| (9) Northwest Nazarene | (8) Notre Dame de Namur | (7) Stanislaus State^ |
| (10) Western Oregon | (11) Holy Names | (12) Sonoma State |
| San Francisco Pod* | ||
| GNAC | PacWest | CCAA |
| (7) Concordia-Portland | (9) Dominican | (8) San Francisco State^ |
| (10) Fresno Pacific | (11) Cal State Dominguez Hills | |
| (13) Humboldt State | ||
| San Diego Pod | ||
| GNAC | PacWest | CCAA |
| (8) Montana State Billings | (7) Concordia-Irvine | (9) UC San Diego^ |
| (11) Saint Martin's | (12) Academy of Art | (10) Chico State |
| note: number in parentheses indicates conference seed (based on final 2018 conference standings) ^indicates host institution *the San Francisco pod is unbalanced in terms of teams from each conference due to the difference in the total number of conference members for each league. The CCAA will have three entrants, the PacWest two, the GNAC one. |
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