INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The No. 10 Emory & Henry College Softball Team is the fourth-ranked team in the NCAA Division III Atlantic Region, NCAA officials announced Thursday. It is the first ranking period of the 2021 season and the first regional rankings since the release of the NCAA Division III Tournament pairings on May 6, 2019.
These rankings, combined with the automatic qualifiers given to conference champions, are the official means of determining the field for the 2021 NCAA Division III Tournament. Rankings will be released for the next two Thursdays (May 6, May 13) and on Monday, May 17 along with the 48-team national tournament bracket.
RELATED - NCAA Division III Regional Rankings
Emory & Henry (23-5) finished the 2021 season with a 13-3 ODAC record, good for second place in the league. It ties the best regular-season conference finish in program history (2019). The Wasps are ranked in the region for the 10th time in the last 11 periods dating back to April 27, 2017.
Birmingham-Southern College is the top team in the region, holding a 26-4 record. The Panthers are tied as the third-ranked team in the country by the NFCA. Second in the Atlantic is No. 2 nationally-ranked Virginia Wesleyan University. No. 13 Salisbury University rounds out the top three regionally.
E&H is one of three Old Dominion Athletic Conference schools ranked in the top nine of the Atlantic Region. In addition to VWU, rival Roanoke College slides into the first rankings of the year at No. 9.
Emory & Henry will get the postseason underway on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m., when it hosts seventh-seeded Ferrum College in the quarterfinals of the ODAC Tournament. This year's tournament will be played as best-of-three series, hosted by the top seed in each pairing.
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NCAA Division III Atlantic Region Rankings
1. Birmingham-Southern
2. Virginia Wesleyan *
3. Salisbury
4. Emory & Henry *
5. Christopher Newport
6. Moravian
7. Berry
8. Emory
9. Roanoke *
* denotes Old Dominion Athletic Conference school