Friday, November 10, 2006

MACON, Ga. -- Nashville sets the stage once again for the Atlantic Sun Volleyball Tournament and the champion will be crowned at Belmont's Curb Event Center. The winner will receive the league's NCAA automatic bid. The two-day tournament will take place Nov. 17-18. Each match will be broadcast on the web and live stats will be available.

First serve is Friday morning at 11:00 when No. 4 Jacksonville takes on No. 5 Gardner-Webb. With a few key victories this season, the Dolphins (14-13, 5-4 A-Sun) finished fifth in the conference standings. Their victory over Gardner-Webb on Oct. 28 secured the fourth-seed in the tournament. Jacksonville will rely on Stevenique Richardson, Sara Bendorf and Michelle Walroth to lead the way. Richardson leads the Dolphins in hitting percentage (.306) and is seventh in the league. Richardson and Melissa Merchant are also league leaders in blocks. Ranked in A-Sun's top-10, Bendorf is averaging 3.42 kills per game. Gardner-Webb makes it first trip to the tournament since entering the league in 2002. It came down to the wire for the Bulldogs (13-17, 4-5 A-Sun), who took the fifth-seed with a very necessary win over Campbell on Nov. 4. As a team, Gardner-Webb ranks in the league's top-five in kills (14.05) and assists (12.89) and sixth in hitting percentage, while Katie Matykowski is ranked in digs, averaging 4.35 per game.

Taking the main court at 1:00 pm will be No. 3 Lipscomb and No. 6 Mercer. The Lady Bisons come into the tournament with their best conference mark and highest seed placement. Led by 2006 A-Sun Libero of the Year Ann Mullins, Lipscomb pulled out a 6-3 A-Sun record. Mullins, who leads the league in digs with 6.16 per game is ranked 12th in the nation, and her team is ranked 16th. Mercer, who squeaked past Campbell and Stetson, took the sixth seed in the tiebreak. The Bears make their fourth consecutive appearance at the tournament, and are highlighted by Liz Kane, Jen Darty, Julie Darty and Chelsea Gebben.

Second-seeded Belmont was predicted in the preseason to win the tournament. At 22-6 and 8-1 A-Sun, the Bruins are definitely a contender. Their only league loss of the 2006 season came to No. 1 ETSU, and the Bruins are undefeated at home. Leading the charge for Belmont are Colleen Nilson, Jaye Schuler, Emily Cahill, Cat Mundy and Ashley Collier. Schuler and Cahill lead the league in hitting percertage, hitting .381 and .355 respectively. Nilson is ranked 14th in the nation in assists and leads the A-Sun with 13.29 per game. Mundy is second in the league in kills (4.03 p/g) and Collier is fourth in digs, averaging 5.20 per outing. For nearly a month, Belmont won 11 consecutive matches between Sept. 8 and Oct. 7. The Bruins will face the winner of the Lipscomb/Mercer match at 7:00 pm.

After a 3-6 conference showing and early exit from the tournament last season, ETSU has made one of the best turnarounds in conference history. In only their second season in the conference, the top-seeded Lady Bucs earned the regular season title with an unblemished 9-0 conference record. Leading the way are Jennifer Sartor, Nani Emerson, Callie Kiselich and Kaena Apana. Sartor leads the league in kills, while Emerson is second in the league in assists, averaging 13.22 per game and is ranked 17th in the nation. Kiselich leads the Lady Bucs in hitting percentage (.336) and has recorded six double-doubles on the season. Apana, a junior libero, has 585 digs so far this season and ranks second in the A-Sun, averaging 5.52 per game. In addition, ETSU (25-5 overall) has won 15 consecutive matches this year, breaking the school record of 10 and is ranked 21st in the nation in W-L percentage. The Lady Bucs will take on the winner of the Jacksonville/Gardner-Webb match at 4:30 pm.