FLORENCE, S.C. – Francis Marion University will serve as host for the 2006 Peach Belt Conference Women’s Volleyball Tournament, Friday and Saturday (Nov. 3-4) in the Smith University Center.

Admission to the tournament is free.

The single-elimination event will begin on Friday with quarterfinal matches at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m., and semifinal matches at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. The championship match is set for Saturday at 2 p.m.

The Patriots finished their regular season with a 25-7 overall mark – the 10th highest win total in the program’s 34-year history – and shared the PBC regular-season crown with a 10-2 record. It is the third time (1996, 1998, 2006) FMU has won or shared the regular-season title.

By virtue of tiebreaking regulations, FMU will enter the tournament as the second seed and will face seventh-seeded Augusta State University (12-20), Friday at 1 p.m. If the Patriots win their quarterfinal match, Francis Marion will play in the second semifinal match at 7 p.m.

Other quarterfinal matches have fourth-seeded USC Upstate (22-10) meeting fifth-seeded UNC Pembroke (9-18) at 11 a.m. and third-seeded Armstrong Atlantic State University (18-13) playing sixth-seeded Lander University (20-14) at 3 p.m. Top-seeded USC Aiken (26-6) will meet the USC Upstate/UNCP winner in the opening semifinal match at 5 p.m.

The Patriots swept the season series from Augusta State and have beaten the Jaguars six consecutive times. Francis Marion owns an all-time record of 19-16 in PBC Tournament competition, including winning the 1997, 1998, and 2005 tournament titles.