Thursday, August 27, 2009

MACON, Ga. - This first Atlantic Sun Volleyball Game of the Week features a matchup from the Comcast Lady Vol Classic when preseason favorite Lipscomb faces Tennessee Tech, a 2008 NCAA Tournament participant from the Ohio Valley Conference at 5:00 p.m. on Sunday in Knoxville, Tenn.

The Lady Bisons featured two players on the 2009 A-Sun Preseason All-Conference Team, led by Preseason Player of the Year Alex Kelly. Junior setter Stefine “Jake” Pease joined Kelly on the Preseason All-Conference Team. Last season, the Lady Bisons won a program-record 21 matches in finishing with a 21-11 record, 17-3 in the A-Sun. They advanced to the Atlantic Sun Volleyball Champion¬ship title game for the second year in a row, but fell to Belmont.

Tennessee Tech, picked fifth in the OVC preseason poll, captured the Ohio Valley Conference Volleyball Tournament Title and earned the league’s automatic invitation to the NCAA tournament. The Golden Eagles lost their first-round contest to Tulane, 3-1; however, Tech’s win in the second set marked the first time in eight years that an OVC school won a set at the NCAA tournament. The Golden Eagles return seven players from the 2008 team, including reigning OVC Player of the Year Leah Meffert and OVC Defensive Player of the Year Katie Kenline.

Players to Watch
* Alex Kelly, Lipscomb – In 2008, Kelly earned Atlantic Sun Conference Player of the Year, and in 2009, conference coaches selected the junior middle blocker as the Preseason Player of the Year, a first for the Lady Bisons’ program.
* Stefine “Jake” Pease, Lipscomb – Pease joined Kelly on the 2009 Atlantic Sun Preseason All-Conference team, earned First Team All-Conference honors in 2008 and the 2007 A-Sun Freshman of the Year award.

Around the Sun - Volleyball
Belmont
* Coming off its second Atlantic Sun title in three years, the coaches selected Belmont to finish second in the 2009 Preseason Coaches’ Poll.
* Last season, Belmont captured the Atlantic Sun Cham¬pionship as the second seed, defeating Lipscomb in three sets.
* The Belmont Bruins featured a pair of teammates on the 2009 Preseason All-Conference Team, senior Jenny Gray and sophomore Channing Salava.
* Gray earned Second Team All-Conference honors after last season, where she led the Bruins in blocks. As team captain in 2009, Gray has the goal of leading the team to excellence.
* Salava earned Freshman of the Year and Second Team All-Conference honors last season. Salava ranked fourth in the A-Sun and 21st nationally with .47 aces per set.
* Belmont opens the season at the Louisville Invitational on Friday against No. 18 Wichita State and Pittsburgh.

Campbell
* The coaches tabbed Campbell ninth in the 2009 Atlantic Sun Preseason Coaches’ Poll. The Camels return five starters and eight total letterwinners from a year ago.
* Last year, the coaches voted Campbell ninth in their pre¬season poll, the exact spot they finished.
* Campbell will kick off the season Friday at the North Caro¬lina State Tournament, facing Davidson at 10 a.m. Campbell will also see action against Morgan State, NC State and Charleston Southern in Raleigh, N.C.

ETSU
* ETSU returns a very experienced squad with nine letter¬winners from 2008, including six of the seven starters for the Buccaneers.
* The ETSU volleyball team opens the season at the Com¬fort Inn and Suites Invitational at Morehead State in More¬head, Ky.
* The Bucs will face Chattanooga at 1 p.m. and James Madison at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, and host Morehead State at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday.

FGCU
* The Eagles, who are eligible for postseason play for the first time, received three first place votes, but finished third in the 2009 Preseason Coaches’ Poll.
* Though the Eagles weren’t preseason favorites to win the regular season championship, the coaches’ selected FGCU as the preseason favorite to win the 2009 A-Sun Volleyball Tournament.
* FGCU’s Alico Arena will play host to the conference champi¬onship for the first time on November 19-21.

Jacksonville
* The coaches picked Jacksonville to finish fourth in the 2009 Preseason Coaches’ Poll.
* The Jacksonville Dolphins featured senior libero Shelley Walroth on the A-Sun Preseason All-Conference Team for the second straight season.
* Walroth, who holds the single-season and career records at JU for digs, became the first Dolphin to garner A-Sun Defensive “Player of the Year” honors and also earned First Team All-Conference accolades in 2008.
* Jacksonville will open the 2009 regular season against UCF, Friday at 1:00 p.m., in the Radisson-UCF Invitational.

Kennesaw State
* The Kennesaw State volleyball team opens the season at the Staybridge Suites Rocket Classic in Toledo, Ohio.
* The Owls begin the season under the direction of a new head coach, Karen Weatherington.

Lipscomb
* Conference coaches gave the Lady Bisons five of 11 first place votes, picking them as the preseason No. 1 team in the Atlantic Sun Conference.
* With the No. 1 selection, conference coaches selected junior middle blocker Alex Kelly as the 2009 Preseason Atlantic Sun Player of the Year, a first for the Lady Bisons program.
* Junior setter Stefine “Jake” Pease joined Kelly on the Pre¬season All-Conference Team. Pease earned First Team All-Con¬ference honors last season and the 2007 Freshman Player of the Year in the A-Sun.
* The Lady Bisons open the regular season Aug. 29 in Knox¬ville against Western Kentucky at the University of Tennessee.

Mercer
* Conference coaches selected Mercer to finish fifth among conference competition in the 2009 A-Sun Preseason Coaches’ Poll, a year removed from posting a program-best 13 confer¬ence wins.
* The Mercer Bears featured junior middle blocker Libby Hansch on the 2009 A-Sun Preseason All-Conference Team. Hansch, who amassed 232 kills and 101 total blocks in 2008, earned her first career preseason all-conference selection.
* The season kicks off Friday against Austin Peay in the opening match of the Georgia Tech Tournament. A day after challenging the Lady Govs, the Bears have a meeting with in-state powerhouses Georgia and Georgia Tech.
* Mercer begins conference play on Sept. 8 at Kennesaw State.

UNF
* The coaches voted the University of North Florida volleyball team to finish seventh in the 2009 Atlantic Sun Pre¬season Volleyball Coaches’ Poll.
* The 2009 A-Sun Preseason All-Conference Team featured Junior Kaley Read from the Ospreys. Read led the team last season in kills per set, averaging 3.5. She tallied 38 aces and 92 blocks on the season while also leading the team in digs with 2.79 per set. Read ranked fourth in the A-Sun in kills per set.
* UNF will kick off the season Friday in Orlando, Fla. at the University of Central Florida Fall Classic.

USC Upstate
* Head coach Jennifer Calloway enters her 14th season as head coach at USC Upstate. Not only is she the longest tenured coach in program history, she is also the youngest coach in Division I with 200 career wins.
* Junior Katie Downey is back after taking a medical redshirt during the 2008 season thanks to a broken finger suffered after the first tournament of the year.
* Downey and sophomore Morgan Thomas have each led the team in blocks in the past three years. Downey led the team in 2006 (117) and 2007 (96) and Thomas led the squad in 2008 (89).
* Junior Megan Healey enters the season needing just 13 digs to become the 18th player in school history to record 750 career digs.
* Thomas needs just 11 blocks to become the 34th player in school history to reach 100 career blocks.
* Senior setter Morgan Bucciferro has posted seven double-dou¬bles (assists and digs) at the Division I level and has recorded 14 in her career.

Stetson
* Conference coaches selected Stetson to finish 10th in the 2009 Atlantic Sun Conference Preseason Coaches’ poll.
* Head Coach Cheryl Carlson’s Hatters, led on the court by senior tri-captains Anna Becker (McLean, Ill.), Laura Boyd (La Crescenta, Calif.) and Sarah Sears (Ashburn, Va.), begin the 2009 season Friday, at the Georgia Southern Holiday Inn Invitational in Statesboro, Ga.
* Stetson’s first match will be 5:00 p.m. against former A-Sun rival Troy; the Hatters will take on the host GSU Eagles along with Presbyterian the next day.

FGCU will host the 2009 Atlantic Sun Championships, November 19-21, for the first time. Though the coaches did not choose the Eagles as the preseason favorites to win the regular-season title, they did select FGCU to win the A-Sun Volleyball Championships.

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.