10/1/2009 - VOLLEYBALL Camels, Lady Bisons Meet in Volleyball Match of the Week

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Volleyball Weekly Release

MACON, Ga. - The Atlantic Sun Conference Volleyball Match of the Week features Campbell and Lipscomb, currently the league’s pace-setters in the standings, at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday in Buies Creek, N.C.

The Camels improved to 11-5 with their third-straight win on the road, defeating North Carolina Central on Tuesday. Senior middle blocker Ashley Weers notched 12 kills, hitting over .400 for the eighth time this season, to lead Campbell volleyball in a 3-0 win against the Eagles inside historic McLendon-McDougald Gym. Campbell, winners of five of their last six contests, have posted the third-best 16-game start in program history, trailing only the 1997 and 1998 squads, who collected 16-0 and 12-4 records, respectively.

Campbell currently holds a 5-1 A-Sun tally for only the third time in program history. The mark matches the records of both the 1998 and 2000 squads’ first six-game totals. This year’s Camels became the third-fastest Campbell team to 10 wins in school history, hitting the mark in 15 matches. The 1998 team hit double digit wins on its 14th try, while in 1997, the Camels started the year 17-0. Campbell gathered only seven overall wins and five conference victories a year ago. With their win on Saturday against ETSU, the Camels picked up their first-ever victory against ETSU in seven tries. The Lady Bisons have backed up preseason expectations as the conference favorites, winning all seven of their league contests in straight sets. Last season the Lady Bisons swept both matches with the Camels after Lipscomb won the lone contest between the two in 2007.

Lipscomb improved to 11-3, downing non-conference opponent Evansville on Tuesday night at Allen Arena. The Lady Bisons won their eighth-straight match of the season and extending their sets win streak to 24. The Lady Bisons won set one, 25-17, set two 25-19, and set three, 25-9. Junior middle hitter Alex Kelly collected a double-double with 13 kills and 12 digs while sophomore libero Katie Rose and junior outside hitter Meghan Hinemeyer and tallied 13 and 12 digs, respectively.

Campbell’s junior outside hitter Emily Werner and Weers combined for 27 kills in A-Sun play against ETSU, Saturday afternoon inside Brooks Gym. With the win, the Camels start 5-1 in conference play for only the third time in school history, a program best through six contests, matching the feat in 1998 and 2000. Werner posted a team-high 14 kills on a season-high 49 attempts, adding 12 digs in the win. Weers recorded 13 kills on 26 attempts with only one error for a .462 hitting percentage, Weers’ seventh attack rate over .400 this season. Weers also added two blocks, one solo and one assisted.

The Lady Bisons won their seventh straight Atlantic Sun match Saturday afternoon against Kennesaw State at Allen Arena. The Lady Bisons swept the match 3-0, extending their streak of set wins to 21. Freshman outside hitter Kaycee Green tallied a match-high 13 kills and also added a match-high four service aces. She posted a .478 hitting percentage. Junior outside hitter Alex Kelly col¬lected 10 kills, and also was credited with a match-high 13 digs.

Players to Watch
* Caitlin Bendy, Campbell – The junior middle blocker tallied eight kills and took 15 swings with only two errors for a .500 hitting percentage against North Carolina Central. Bendy also added a pair of blocks, a team-high. Against ETSU, the Stony Brook, N.Y. native led the team with six blocks, five assisted and one solo.

* Ashley Weers, Campbell – The Littleton, Colo. native led the Camels to a 3-0 victory against North Carolina Central Tuesday night, with 12 kills, hitting above .400 for the eighth time this season. Against ETSU, Weers recorded 13 kills on 26 attempts with only one error for a .462 hitting percentage. Weers also added two blocks, one solo and one assisted.

* Emily Werner, Campbell – At ETSU, the Sarasota, Fla. native posted a team-high 14 kills on a Campbell season-high 49 attempts, adding 12 digs in the win. With her second-straight double-double, Werner has five on the season, and 17 for her career. The junior also added a season-high three service aces and one block assist for 17.5 points.

* Kaycee Green, Lipscomb – The freshman outside hitter made a career-high 18 kills, posting a .548 hitting percentage at Missouri Valley Conference opponent Evansville on Tuesday. Against Kennesaw State, Green tallied a match-high 13 kills and also added a match-high four service aces, posting a .478 hitting percentage.

* Alex Kelly, Lipscomb – The junior middle hitter collected a double-double against Evansville on Tuesday night with 13 kills and 12 digs and col¬lected 10 kills and a match-high 13 digs against Kennesaw State.

Around the Sun – Volleyball
Belmont
* After starting the season 2-7, Belmont improved to 8-8 after defeating Mercer on Saturday afternoon at the Curb Event Cen¬ter. Belmont pulled away from the Bears by hitting a combined .361 in the last two sets.
* For the second time this week, two or more players registered double-doubles as senior Jenny Gray went for a career-high 16 kills and 10 digs, while sophomore Maggie Johnson also record¬ed 16 kills with 14 digs. Johnson also added four aces with only one service error. Gray’s .469 hitting percentage set a season-high. Megan Clements and her 24 digs, helped hold Mercer to a .153 hitting percentage for the match.
* Against Kennesaw State the previous night, Belmont won the last three sets. The comeback marked the first match which the Bruins won after losing the first two sets since defeating Northeastern on Sept. 8, 2007 at the MTSU Blue Radier Bash in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
* After winning six of their last seven matches, Belmont (8-8, 5-2) will prepare for a non-conference pairing with fellow Nash¬ville resident Tennessee State on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in the Curb Event Center.

Campbell
* Senior middle blocker Ashley Weers averaged 3.00 kills and 1.00 blocks per set, converting 36 of 82 attack attempts with just eight errors for a .341 rate, leading the A-Sun with a .373 clip. Weers’ 12 blocks, that included seven assisted and five solo, tied for a team high on the week, matched only by junior middle Caitlin Bendy, who totaled 10 assisted and two solo.
* Weers continued to move up on Campbell’s all-time blocks list as well, skipping both Jennie Heires (232, 1989-90) and Femi Alabi (234, 2005-07) for seventh on the total blocks list with five blocks against ECU. The senior middle has collected 243 total blocks in her CU career, with 194 assisted (No. 6 all-time) and 49 solo.
*After their nonconference bout with North Carolina Central on Tuesday, the Camels will host Belmont on Friday at 7:00 p.m., followed by Lipscomb at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday inside the John W. Pope, Jr. Convocation Center.

ETSU
* ETSU dropped two tough matches last week losing in five to former Southern Conference rival Chattanooga and com¬ing up short against Campbell at home 3-1. The Buccaneers were led by junior Whitney Cogburn on the week as she tied a career-best with 17 kills against Campbell.
* Senior setter Amanda Youell moved into second in the A-Sun with 491 assists on the season. Youell’s 9.26 assists per set ranks fifth in the Atlantic Sun.
* The Buccaneers have two big conference matches this weekend as first place Lipscomb and Belmont come to Johnson City. ETSU has dropped its last six matches against the Nashville schools with the last win coming in 2007 against Lipscomb.

FGCU
* The Florida Gulf Coast University women’s volleyball team earned a come-from-behind victory Saturday against UNF, 3-2, at UNF Arena in Jacksonville.
* Against UNF, junior outside hitter Jelena Simic and junior middle blocker Jacqueline Cowden each totaled 20 kills for the Eagles while senior setter Chandra Lefever collected a team-high 54 assists and 17 digs.
* With the win, FGCU split its two weekend matches in Jack¬sonville as the team fell to Jacksonville in five sets on Friday.
* Against Jacksonville, Simic racked up a game-high 25 kills, hit .300 and tallied 10 digs, as the Eagles dropped their second consecutive A-Sun Conference game. Lefever also added a double-double with 46 assists and 10 digs while Cowden chipped in with 10 kills. Sophomore libero Holly Youngquist racked up 16 digs and senior middle blocker Ashley Yance picked up three blocks to lead the FGCU defense.
* FGCU will be in action next when they host Mercer on Octo¬ber 8 at 7:00 p.m. at Alico Arena.

Jacksonville
* After being shut out in straight sets against Belmont and Lip¬scomb, JU has won five straight matches. The Dolphins have hit above .300 in three straight matches for only the second time since joining the A-Sun in 1998 (2006). JU has not hit above .300 in four straight matches since joining the A-Sun.
* Senior outside hitter Brooke Singleton had a career weekend to help push the Dolphins’ match winning streak to five with wins versus FGCU and Stetson. In an epic five-set victory against the Eagles, she finished with 14 kills and a career-high 18 digs to notch her third career double-double. In a sweep of Stetson, Singleton kept things rolling with a career-high 17 kills and nine digs while also hitting .375 (17-5-32) in the contest. For the week, Singleton led the squad with 31 kills, a 3.88 kills per set average and three aces while ranking second with 27 digs and a 3.38 digs per set aver¬age and hitting .333.
* Senior libero Shelley Walroth reached yet another milestone and is setting her sights on cracking the top 25 spots in NCAA history. Walroth surpassed her sister, Julie (who tallied 2,095 career digs to set the program record at Evansville (2004-07)) to become the undisputed head of the family. Walroth is now 119 digs shy of cracking the top 25 all-time in NCAA history.

Kennesaw State
* Kennesaw State slipped to 7-6 with three losses on the road last week at Georgia State, Belmont, and Lipscomb.
* KSU’s match at Georgia State was originally scheduled to be played in Kennesaw, but due to the flooding which damaged many parts of the Cobb County area, the match was moved to Atlanta and the GSU campus.
* The Owls’ 3-2 loss at Belmont marks the second-straight year that KSU has lost in five sets to the Bruins in the first match of the year between the schools. Last season, each team won two consecutive sets before Belmont won in five at the KSU Convo¬cation Center Oct. 10.
* In the first three years of the KSU program’s existence, the 20-dig mark had only been reached four times. This season, the feat has already happened on six occasions. Senior Chelsey De¬nesha tied the school record with 23 against Mercer on Sept. 8, while senior Selina O’Leary has notched at least 20 digs on four occasions, with junior Sabrita Gulley reaching the mark once.
* This weekend the Owls begin a stretch of four consecutive matches against Florida schools when UNF and Jacksonville travel to the Convocation Center on Friday and Saturday.

Lipscomb
* Junior middle hitter Alex Kelly became the fourth player in program history to break the 1,000 kills barrier for her career. She was honored prior to Saturday’s match with Kennesaw State. Kelly is leading the Lady Bisons in several categories including attacks (389), blocks (29), points (211.5), kills (183) and digs (142).
* Junior setter Stefine “Jake” Pease was honored before Friday’s match with Mercer for becoming only the second player in the history of the program to make more than 3,000 assists.
* The Lady Bisons have won seven straight Atlantic Sun Conference matches, all by 3-0 scores. They have won 21 straight sets.
* Last season the Lady Bisons won eight straight A-Sun matches before losing and finished the first half of the round-robin with a 10-1 record.
* The Lady Bisons are back home in Allen Arena to play Evansville in a non-conference match Tuesday night at 6:30.

Mercer
* Mercer sophomore middle blocker Krista Hurley had 11 kills and struck just two errors, but Belmont bested the Bears, 3-1, in Saturday afternoon’s A-Sun volleyball match held at the Curb Event Center.
* Sophomore outside hitter Amiee Frutchey finished with 12 kills and 18 digs against the Bruins, marking her fourth double-double of the season. Sophomore libero Ashley Skidmore notched 20 digs in the losing effort. Mercer senior setter Chelsea Gebben dished out 19 assists and added six digs against Belmont.
* Against the Lady Bisons the previous night, Frutchey knocked down 11 kills. Skidmore tallied 19 digs in the losing effort. Gebben and sophomore setter Nickie Halbert combined for 25 assists. Mercer out-blocked Lipscomb 10-4. Junior middle blocker Libby Hansch had four block-assists and a pair of block solos.
* Mercer returns to action on Friday, hosting Jacksonville. Game time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

UNF
* UNF fell to A-Sun opponent FGCU in a hard-fought 3-2 match on Saturday afternoon in UNF Arena.
* Junior outside hitter Kaley Read tallied 23 kills, 893 for her career, pulling her into UNF’s top-10 all-time hitters list. Read also posted 15 digs for a double-double on the day. Junior out¬side hitter Danielle Lerch also tallied 23 kills. Freshman outside hitter Paige Pridgeon added 22 kills and 12 digs while junior setter Jessica Catelano had 68 assists and 12 digs. Freshman libero Nicole Baran led the defensive charge with a career-high 24 digs for the Ospreys.
* Three players tallied double digit kills to lead the Ospreys on Friday night against the Hatters. Read and Lerch posted 23 and 22 kills, respectively. Read also tallied 11 digs in the match for a double-double. Pridgeon added 14 kills, 12 digs and tallied six service aces. Sophomore setter Julie Fye notched 43 assists. On the defensive side, Baran and junior defensive specialist Chelsea Rabe each notched 12 digs.
* The Ospreys will be back on the court on Tuesday when they host Florida A&M. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. at UNF Arena.

USC Upstate
* Sophomore middle blocker Morgan Thomas has led the Spartans in the last four matches, hitting .255 and averaging 3.38 kills per set. She has also added 0.77 blocks per set.
* Junior outside hitter Erin Jacobsen posted a career-high four digs on Friday against Campbell. Jacobsen added 13 kills for her fourth 10-kill performance of the year.
* The Spartans had two double-doubles in Friday’s match against Campbell for the second time this year. Freshmen setter Emily Sanders and outside hitter Paige Weiland did the honors, with Sanders notching 28 assists and 14 digs and Weiland adding 12 kills and 11 digs. Against The Citadel on Sept. 4, Weiland notched 14 kills and 16 digs and senior setter Morgan Bucciferro added 34 assists and 11 digs.
* Thanks to her 16 digs against Campbell, junior libero Megan Healey has moved into eighth in the A-Sun in digs per match, averaging 3.40.
* Tuesday’s match against Wofford is Upstate’s Dig Pink Rally fundraiser, with donations from the event benefitting The Side-Out Foundation, a volleyball consortium dedicated to the fight against breast cancer.

Stetson
* Sophomore outside hitter Kaylee Ream finished with a team-high seven kills for the Stetson Hatters against host Jacksonville.
* Freshman setter Kelli Carneal handed out 10 assists while senior libero Anna Becker collected a team-high 10 digs for Stetson. The match marked Stetson’s 50th all-time outing against Jacksonville.
* The Hatters are back in action Tuesday at the Edmunds Center in non-conference play against Volusia County rival Bethune-Cookman. Stetson hopes to increase its enormous 43-3 lead in the all-time series and pick up its first victory in 2009. The match begins at 6:30 p.m.

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.