Monday, November 07, 2005

Belmont Bruins

The Bruins opened the week by defeating Austin Peay for the second time this season. Freshman libero Ashley Collier broke the school's single season digs record of 410, which had stood for 10 years. Setter Colleen Nilson also broke her own single season assist record of 1397 during the match. The team then closed out its conference schedule with losses at Jacksonville and UNF. Senior Lindsay Cleveland recorded a double-double in each of the three matches this week.Belmont will play its regular season finale Tuesday at Tennessee Tech.

Campbell Camels

The Campbell volleyball team wraps up the 2005 season with a pair of non-conference matches this week. The Camels host High Point on Tuesday and then Savannah State on Saturday when they will honor four players who will be graduating this year. Campbell ended a nine-match losing streak with a 3-1 victory over North Carolina A&T last week, but dropped its final A-Sun match of the year at Mercer to finish 1-8 in the conference for the year.

East Tennesee State Bucaneers

Last week was a rough week for the Lady Bucs, who fell in all three of their matches. ETSU began the week with a tough 3-2 loss to UNC Asheville at home, followed by a pair of losses over the weekend to FAU and Florida Atlantic. The Lady Bucs close out the season Tuesday, as they travel to Western Carolina for a non-conference match. Currently, ETSU stands at 17-13 overall and completed a 3-6 A-Sun campaign.

Florida Atlantic Owls

FAU closed out A-Sun play with a win over ETSU to go undefeated in conference play. The Owls also broke the program record for wins with their 26th of the year against ETSU. The old record was set in 1988 with a 25-20 record. Kelly Paiva recorded 44 total kills in wins over ETSU and FIU. She increased her nation leading kills per game average to 5.88. The Owls close out the season on Nov.13. The match at UCF is a makeup from earlier in the year and will be played at 1 pm.

Gardner-Webb Bulldogs

Freshman Katie Matykowski racked up 29 kills, 29 digs, seven aces and seven blocks in Gardner-Webb's 2005 Runnin' Bulldog Classic to earn All-Tournament Team honors. The Lady Bulldogs will close out their 2005 campaign on Tuesday night with a 7 pm match at Winthrop.

Jacksonville Dolphins

With two 3-1 victories over conference foes Belmont and Lipscomb, the Dolphins reached .500 for the first time this year after a 1-9 start. The two wins also helped JU clinch the No. 2 seed in the A-Sun Tournament. Eva Stoilova posted double-doubles in each match to bring her total up to 15 for the season.Jacksonville will close out the regular season with a road match against Bethune-Cookman and a non-conference homestand against Stetson.

Lipscomb Bisons

Lipscomb libero Ann Mullins was credited with 30 digs in a 3-1 match loss at Jacksonville Nov. 5, marking the second time this season she has reached that level. The Lady Bisons have won 12 games this season, an all-time high for the program, with one regular season game at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga and the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament still on the schedule. The Lady Bisons formally honored Kelly Houff, the lone senior on the team for her four years of service to the program.

Mercer Bears

Securing the No. 5 seed in A-Sun tournament, the Bears concluded their regular season with victories over Gardner-Webb and Campbell. Mercer volleyball celebrated senior day by honoring Jackie Viren before the Campbell match and she returned the favor leading the Bears to a 3-0 win over the Camels in the University Center on Saturday. Mercer will take on No. 4 seed Lipscomb Nov. 18 in the tournament.

UNF Ospreys

The UNF volleyball team capped its first A-Sun season by sweeping a pair of weekend matches from fourth-place Lipscomb and second-place Belmont, securing itself sole possession of third place to conclude conference play. With the victories, UNF also secured its 15th consecutive winning season and can post its eighth straight season with 20 or more wins by winning out in the final four matches of 2005. UNF’s only losses came to regular-season champion Florida Atlantic and second-place Jacksonville.

Stetson Hatters

Stetson has won four in a row at home. Senior DeeAnn Dempsey needs a total of 23 digs in three matches this week to become the seventh player in school history with 1000 career digs. She would also become the fourth player with 1000 career kills and 1000 career digs. She will play in her 100th career match on Saturday against Bethune-Cookman. Among A-Sun statistical leaders, Dempsey ranks second in the A-Sun in kills-per-game (3.93) while Melissa Muller leads the A-Sun in aces-per-game (0.49).