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9/8/2009 - VOLLEYBALL
Bruins and Lady Bisons “Battle” in Match of the Week
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Volleyball Weekly ReleaseMACON, Ga. - The Atlantic Sun Conference Volleyball Match of the Week features the latest edition of the “Battle of the Boulevard” as Belmont opens defense of its A-Sun Conference title against arch-rival Lipscomb, at 6:30 p.m. CT on Tuesday, at the Curb Event Center. The match airs on ASunTV.
The last time the Bruins and Lady Bisons met, Belmont captured the 2008 Atlantic Sun title with a three-set victory last November 22, in Macon, Ga. Preseason coaches picked Lipscomb and Belmont to finish first and second in the A-Sun, respectively. Belmont has taken six of the last eight in the series with Lipscomb. The two Nashville schools split during the regular season last year before the Bruins’ victory at the A-Sun Championships. The Bruins look to continue their dominance at the Curb Event Center, where they emerged victorious in 29 of their last 34 home contests.
The Lady Bisons closed out the Jayhawk Invitational Saturday morning with a 3-0 match loss to FIU. The Lady Bisons and Golden Panthers played three tight sets with Lipscomb losing 25-23 in set one, 25-22 in set two and 25-23 in set three at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center. Outside hitter Meghan Hinemeyer led the Lady Bisons with 13 kills while Libero Katie Rose added 10 digs and middle hitter Alex Kelly, the conference’s Preseason Player of the Year, posted a double-double with 12 kills and 12 digs. Kelly made the All-Tournament team, her second such honor this season.
Belmont swept Samford on Saturday night to conclude the 2009 Belmont Invitational at the Curb Event Center. Kayla Albritton and Megan Clements both received all-tournament nods after leading the Bruins to their first two wins of the season. Clements earned her way on to the team with a total of 48 digs (5.33 per set) while recording 21 against the Bulldogs. Albritton, Belmont’s most-accurate hitter for the tournament, registered a .396 attacking percentage with 21 kills and five aces.
Players to Watch
* Kayla Albritton, Lipscomb - The junior outside hitter received an all-tournament nod after leading the Bruins to their first two wins of the season. Albritton finished with seven kills on a season-high .467 hitting percentage against the Central Arkansas Sugar Bears. For the weekend, she hit at a .396 clip to go along with 21 kills and five aces.
* Megan Clements, Belmont – Against Samford, the junior libero earned her way on the all-tournament team with a total of 48 digs (5.33 per set). In the opening match of the Belmont Invitational against Southeast Missouri State, Clements extended double-figure dig streak to six, finishing with 18. One week earlier, Clements made the Louisville All-Invitational Team, where she set a career-high 28 digs against Western Kentucky.
* Alex Kelly, Lipscomb – After earning Preseason Player of the Year accolades, the middle hitter posted a double-double with 12 kills and 12 digs against FIU and made the all-tournament team, her second such honor this season. Also during the Jayhawk Invitational, Kelly posted a .333 hitting percentage against host Kansas, and Kelly made a season-high and match-high 22 kills and added 18 digs, also a personal season high against Creighton.
* Meghan Hinemeyer, Lipscomb – Last weekend during the Jayhawk Invitational, outside hitter Meghan Hinemeyer recorded a double-double with 12 kills, a team-high and season-high 14 digs and made a season-high 17 kills.
Around the Sun – Volleyball
Belmont
* Belmont (2-6) finished the Invitational with wins over Southeast Missouri State and Samford, and losing to cham¬pion Central Arkansas.
* Belmont will return to action on Tuesday to host arch-rival Lipscomb in the Curb Event Center. The match begins at 6:30 CST. The last time the Bruins and Lady Bisons met, Belmont captured the 2008 Atlantic Sun title with a three set victory on Nov. 22, 2008 in Macon, Ga.
Campbell
* Junior outside hitter Emily Werner led the way for Campbell through the first full week of the 2009 season, hitting .307 with 3.40 kills per set while garnering all-tournament recognition at Virginia’s Holliday Inn Jefferson Cup. The nod is Werner’s second of her career after earning a bid to the North Carolina Central Invitational squad in 2007. Werner ended the week with 51 total kills and 56.0 points, grabbed 2.53 digs per frame, notching 38 in 15 sets and tagged at least nine kills in all four matches on the week, including 18 in a five-set loss to High Point in the Camels’ home opener, where she hit .326 with a career-high 19 digs.
* Reigning A-Sun Player of the Week Ashley Weers continues to move up on the school’s all-time block assists list with her two block assists against Virginia on Saturday. Weers moves into a tie with former all-conference middle Tabitha Turner (2003-06) for seventh all-time with 172. Weers averages 0.63 blocks per set on the season, totaling seven on the weekend.
* Campbell dropped to a 5-3 mark on the year with its 1-3 record for the week. With the loss against Virginia, the Camels finish 2009 with a 1-1 record against Atlantic Coast Conference opponents, grabbing a 3-0 victory last weekend at North Carolina State. Campbell is now 0-2 all-time against the Cavaliers. With its defeat of NC Central on Friday, the Camels extended its all-time record against the Eagles to 5-2, including a 5-1 mark since 2006.
ETSU
* The ETSU volleyball team picked up its first win of the season with a 3-2 comeback win against Howard at the Liberty Invitational.
* Junior Alysa Long made the Liberty All-Tournament Team after posting 27 kills on day two of the tournament, including a team high 14 kills, and hitting .636 against Howard.
* The Bucs open conference play this weekend against USC Upstate at home, while Stetson and FGCU come to Johnson City, Tenn. over the weekend.
FGCU
* The FGCU volleyball team wrapped up play in the 2009 Holiday Inn LA City Center Trojan Invitational as they fell to No. 21 Pepperdine 3-0 on Saturday afternoon at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, Calif.
* During the Holiday Inn LA City Center Trojan Invitational, junior Jelena Simic had 43 kills, good for a .322 hitting percentage. Against NAU, Simic recorded a double-double with 19 kills and 11 digs while hitting .214 and senior setter Chandra Lefever added a team-high 44 assists. Lefever also tabbed 27 assists and six digs against No. 21 Pepperdine.
* FGCU has its conference opener at Stetson. FGCU will take on the Hatters in DeLand, Fla., Tuesday at 6 p.m.
* The Eagles open the home portion of their schedule against Belmont on September 18 at 5:00 p.m. at Alico Arena.
Jacksonville
* Senior libero Shelley Walroth surpassed Ann Mullins of Lipscomb as the A-Sun All-Time digs leader with 1,991. Walroth, who already owns the career and single-season records at JU, is now nine digs shy of reaching 2,000 digs in her career. Walroth led the Dolphin defense at the Southern Miss LaQuinta Inn Invitational with 65 digs (5.91 digs per set) in three matches.
* Senior middle blocker Nicki Kent earned All-Tournament Team honors at the Southern Miss La Quinta Inn Invitational after finishing the weekend with 22 kills (2.0 kills per set) a .246 hitting percentage and 17 blocks (1.55 blocks per set).
* Senior outside hitter Brooke Singleton led the Dolphins offense over the weekend with 33 kills (3.0 kills per set) in three matches.
* Sophomore outside hitter Kathryn Kane ranked second on the squad after a solid weekend, with 26 kills (2.36 kills per set) and 44 digs (4.0 digs per set), while also tallying her first career double-double with 16 kills and a career-high 21 digs against Louisiana Tech.
Kennesaw State
* Kennesaw State continued its best start in program history over the weekend, defeating Alabama A&M, Rider, and Nicholls State to win the Kennesaw pool of the Great 8 Volleyball Challenge Presented by Residence Inn – Kennesaw. The Owls improved to 5-1 for the first time in program history with the sweep, setting a program record for non-conference wins in a season in the process.
* Senior outside hitter Asjia Stokes earned Co-MVP of the tournament after recording 51 kills and 3.64 kills per set in KSU’s weekend sweep. The North Chicago, Ill., native hit for a .593 attack percentage against Rider with 19 kills and just three errors in 27 attacks.
* Senior Chelsey Denesha and junior Sabrita Gulley also tied the KSU school record for kills in a match en route to earning all-tournament honors. Denesha notched 20 kills in KSU’s victory versus 2008 NCAA Tournament participant Alabama A&M Friday night, while Gulley tallied 20 in the Owls’ 3-2 win against Nicholls State Saturday night.
* The Owls will continue to fight to earn respect when they host Mercer at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday in the Atlantic Sun Conference opener for both schools. KSU will then face USC Upstate in Spartanburg, S.C. Saturday evening.
Lipscomb
* The Lady Bisons swept Belmont 3-0 Tuesday night, the first time they have ever beaten the Bruins at the Curb Center.
* Katie Rose continues to make the adjustment from outside hitter to libero. She has a team match-high 17 digs in the Belmont match, which is also a season high for her.
* Middle hitter Alex Kelly was held under double figures in kills for the first time this season. She managed only six kills against Belmont.
* Kelly made the All-Tournament Team at the Jayhawk Invitational at Kansas over the weekend. It was her second All-Tournament selection of the season.
Mercer
* Both junior middle blocker Krista Hurley and sophomore outside hitter Rachel Urbelis recorded double-digit kills, but their effort could not stop Kennesaw State from claiming a 3-1 (18-25, 25-19, 25-17, 26-24) win in Tuesday evening’s Atlantic Sun volleyball match at the KSU Convocation Center.
* Sophomores Amiee Frutchey and Rachel Urbelis both rank among the top ten conference players in digs per game. Urbelis has tallied double-digit digs in Mercer’s last four matches.
* Mercer takes on USC Upstate Friday at the Hodge Center in Spartanburg, S.C. Mercer is 2-1 all-time versus USC Upstate. Last season Mercer won both its contests against the Spartans.
UNF
* The Ospreys picked up a pair of victories at the Appalachian State Invitational, defeating Tennessee Tech and Appalachian State before falling in four sets to William & Mary.
* Junior middle blocker Kaley Read and junior outside hitter Danielle Lerch earned spots on the All-Tournament team. Read totaled 61 kills for the three games and hit .303. She added 11 blocks and 32 digs. Lerch hit .333 and collected 30 kills
* UNF will return to the court on Friday when it travels to Nashville, Tenn. to open Atlantic Sun Conference action. The Ospreys will play Lipscomb in a 7:30 p.m. contest. They will also face Belmont while in Nashville on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.
USC Upstate
* Both Kelsie Queen and Morgan Bucciferro earned All-Tournament honors this weekend at the Upstate Volleyball Classic.
* Kelsie Queen posted a career-high 19 kills against The Citadel on Friday in a five-set win. She followed that performance with 18 kills on Saturday against N.C. State.
* Freshman Paige Weiland posted her first career double-double on Friday against The Citadel, posting 14 kills and 16 digs. She is currently second on the Spartans in both kills (2.44) and digs (2.52) per set.
* Senior Morgan Bucciferro is 89 assists away from becoming the seventh player in school history to reach 2,000 career assists.
* Junior Megan Healey became the 16th player in school history to reach 800 career digs on Friday against The Citadel. She currently has 841 career digs, 13th in school history.
Stetson
* Freshman setter Kelli Carneal tallied her first career double-double and came within two kills of Stetson’s first triple-double in two years and she notched eight kills, 13 digs, 12 assists and hit .571, against Southern Illinois. Carneal and sophomore outside hitter Kaylee Ream made the All-Tournament Team.
* Stetson returns to action with the first Atlantic Sun Conference match of the season Tuesday night at home against defending regular season league champions FGCU. The match will begin at 6:30 p.m.
* The Hatters hit the road for contests at ETSU and Campbell on Friday and Saturday.
The Atlantic Sun Conference is an 11-member league committed to Building Winners for Life, with a focus on academic and athletic integrity and a balance between the two for the student-athlete, and maintaining a high level of sportsmanship. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun encompasses six of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun consists of some of the most dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, Campbell University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.
