Monday, September 19, 2005

Belmont Bruins

The Bruins (9-7) were 2-2 this past week, falling at home to the Tennessee State Tigers, but winning two of three at the BSC Challenge, hosted by Birmingham-Southern. Lindsay Cleveland (Franklin, Tenn. /Public Relations) collected 23 kills against Tennessee State, which moved her to second place on Belmont's all-time list. She and Colleen Nilson (McHenry, Ill. /Political Science) were named to the All-Tournament team for their play. The Bruins defeated Birmingham-Southern and Jackson State, but fell to the Alabama Crimson Tide. The Bruins face off against Austin Peay at home this Tuesday before heading to Fort Wayne, Ind. for the IPFW Tournament. They will play IPFW and Cornell at the tournament.

Campbell Camels

Campbell started off the week in impressive fashion knocking off UNC Greensboro 3-0 on the road to end a brief two-game skid. However, the Camels struggled dropping all three matches at the Molten Invitational in Fort Worth, Texas, including a match against No. 5 Minnesota. Campbell has the week off before opening the A-Sun schedule next weekend. The Fighting Camels travel to conference newcomer East Tennessee State on Friday and then to Gardner-Webb on Saturday.

East Tennesee State Bucaneers

In a tough week, the ETSU volleyball team managed a 1-3 record with losses to Furman (3-1), Coastal Carolina (3-2) and Iowa (3-1). The Lady Bucs’ lone win of the week came in a 3-0 shutout over NC A&T at the Microtel Inn & Suites Classic. Following the weekend, the Lady Bucs stand at 6-5 on the season. The Lady Bucs head to Chattanooga, Tenn., on Tuesday, Sept. 20, to face Chattanooga at 7 p.m. ETSU begins its inaugural season in the Atlantic Sun Conference on Friday, Sept. 23, as Campbell comes to Brooks Gym for a 7 p.m. start.

Gardner-Webb Bulldogs

The Lady Bulldogs extended a season-best win streak out to six matches with wins over Hartford and Providence on Friday at the Friar Invitational. GWU had the streak snapped with a loss to High Point on Saturday morning, but rebounded to take second place in the tournament with a five-set victory over Sacred Heart. Ashley Pridgeon was named to the All-Tournament Team. The surging 'Dogs went 3-1 on the week and have won eight of their last 10 contests to pull to 8-10 on the year. GWU will try to stay hot as it plays at Davidson on Wednesday, before kicking off conference play with a home match against Campbell on Saturday.

Mercer Bears

Mercer (2-10) brought its 10-game losing streak to an end with a 3-2 win over Tennessee Chattanooga on Saturday at the Lady Topper Invitational, hosted by Western Kentucky. Jackie Viren was named to the all-tournament team after recording 32 kills and 29 digs in Mercer's three matches at the Invitational. The Bears will play Savannah State on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the University Center as a final tune up before beginning conference play this weekend against Florida Atlantic.

UNF Ospreys

The UNF volleyball team snapped a six-match losing streak with an impressive weekend showing at the South Alabama Classic in Mobile. UNF upended host South Alabama, SEC foe Ole Miss and C-USA opponent Southern Miss to win the tournament title. Kelly Kazmierczak was named tournament MVP after tallying 18 and 16 kills, respectively, against USA and Ole Miss. Jenna Thomas was named to the all-tournament team after the libero/defensive specialist finished with 59 assists in the three matches, including a career-high 27 against Southern Miss in the championship match. The Lady Ospreys now open conference play at Stetson on Friday before returning from a seven-match road swing to face Bethune-Cookman at UNF Arena. As a team, the Lady Ospreys are hitting just .175 for the season but have been on fire as of late, hitting over .200 in each of their three weekend matches, including a season high of .302 against Ole Miss.

Stetson Hatters

Head coach Cheryl Carlson earned her 100th career coaching victory last Wednesday vs. Savannah State. Junior Liz Gorski became the first Hatter in six years to record 30 or more digs in a match when she picked up 30 digs on Saturday against Jacksonville. Despite a 4-8 overall won-loss record, the Hatters have only been outscored by seven points (1200-1193) this year. After playing 11 of their first 12 games on the road, the Hatters will play six of the next eight at home, including this weekend’s A-Sun matches against North Florida and Jacksonville.