SAVANNAH, Ga. - The Armstrong Atlantic State University volleyball squad tops the first NCAA Southeast Region rankings, released today by the region selection committee. These rankings are used to select the participants for the 2011 NCAA DII Volleyball Championships.

The Pirates (29-0) are ahead of fellow unbeaten Wingate (23-0) and fellow Peach Belt school Flagler (18-6), while Lincoln Memorial (16-5) and Catawba (16-6) round out the top five.

The second five includes Tusculum (15-9), Carson-Newman (14-11), Lees-McRae (20-8), Lenoir-Rhyne (17-10) and USC Aiken (12-12).

Click here to view the complete NCAA DII region rankings.

Three automatic bids are awarded to the conference tournament champions of the Peach Belt, the South Atlantic Conference and Conference Carolinas. The next five highest ranked teams earn at-large berths into the championships.

Armstrong has advanced to the last three NCAA Championships and the Pirates have earned eight berths in the last 11 seasons, including advancing to the 2008 NCAA Elite Eight.

The Pirates return to action on Friday, October 28, hosting Montevallo in a Peach Belt Conference match at 7:00 p.m. at the ARC.