· 2009 Sun Belt Championships Bracket

Originally it was thought the Blue Raiders would play at 5 p.m. when the tournament begins on Thursday, Nov. 19 but tournament host Western Kentucky chose the 5 p.m. match so Middle Tennessee will play at 7:30 p.m.

The Blue Raiders will face the seven seed Arkansas-Little Rock. Middle Tennessee defeated the Trojans earlier this season 3-0 at home.

"Of course we are excited for the tournament to start. I think we have had a very good season so far and I think our team is playing very well at this time. Our players know what is on the line as far as making it to the NCAA Tournament and are excited to get things going," head coach Matt Peck said.

Middle Tennessee is on the same side of the bracket as three seed Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers will play Denver in the first round.

With a win in the first round of the tournament, the Blue Raiders will play the winner of Western Kentucky and Denver in the semi-finals.

Florida International completed its undefeated run in Sun Belt action on Saturday night with a 3-0 win over Florida Atlantic. FIU received the top seed in the tournament and will face North Texas at 12 p.m. to begin play on Thursday.

New Orleans and Arkansas State complete that side of the bracket as they received the fourth and fifth seeds respectively. The two teams were also named co-champions in the West Division but the Pioneers received the higher seed because they won both regular season matches over ASU. The championship will be held November 19 through 21 on the campus of Western Kentucky in Bowling Green, Ky. All games will be available for webstream on SBC Extra and fans can purchase a tournament pass for only $9.95 to tune-in.

The championship match at 3 p.m. (CT) will also be broadcast by the Sun Belt Network. The championship match will air November 22 at 5 p.m. (CT) on CSS and November 23 on CST at 6 p.m. (CT).

Championship Schedule Thursday, November 19, 2009 - Quarterfinals

MATCH 1

No. 1 FIU vs. No. 8 North Texas - 12:00 PM

MATCH 2

No. 4 New Orleans vs. No. 5 Arkansas State - 2:30 PM

MATCH 3

No. 2 Middle Tennessee vs. No. 7 UALR - 7:30 PM

MATCH 4

No. 3 WKU vs. No. 6 Denver - 5:00 PM Friday, November 20, 2009 - Semifinals

MATCH 5

Winner of Match 1 vs. Winner of Match 2 - 5:00 PM

MATCH 6

Winner of Match 3 vs. Winner of Match 4 - 7:30 PM

Saturday, November 21, 2009 - Championship

MATCH 7

Winner of Match 5 vs. Winner of Match 6 - 3:00 PM

As the host institution WKU can choose their first round match time. WKU chose the 5 p.m. match time.

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