Thursday, November 19, 2009

FORT MYERS, Fla. –The 2009 Atlantic Sun Volleyball Conference Championship begins Thursday evening with two first-round matchups from Alico Arena on the campus of Florida Gulf Coast University.

Belmont looks to repeat as the conference tournament champion, with a meeting with Kennesaw State at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. The Bruins enter the championship in the No. 4 seed with an overall record of 17-14 and an A-Sun tally of 13-7, the lowest seeding among the six consecutive appearances made by the Bruins. Belmont won their second A-Sun title in three years after sweeping Lipscomb in 2008. Belmont listed three players on the Atlantic Sun All-Conference teams. Outside hitter Maggie Johnson earned First-Team All-Conference accolades, as the sophomore led Belmont in kills for 21 of 29 matches, and ranked fourth overall in kills with 408 (3.49) and in points with 463 (3.96 per set). Johnson also finished ranked third in A-Sun matches in kills with 275 (3.57 per set) and fifth in points with 310.5 (4.03 per set). On the year, the Naperville, Ill. had seven matches with at least 18 kills, 39 total blocks and tied her career-high of four blocks twice.

Junior libero Megan Clements and sophomore setter Channing Salava claimed Second Team honors. Clements filled the libero position, marking the first postseason recognition for Clements after her most-prolific campaign in three seasons as a starting libero. The Indianapolis, native's 4.69 digs per set ranked as the second-most in the conference, and in seventh in aces per set (0.33). Clements recorded a career-high 31 digs at UNF, the most from a Bruin in four years, and tied a Curb Event Center record of 28 digs in Belmont's home-opener against WKU. Salava, last year’s A-Sun Freshman of the Year experienced no sophomore slump in 2009 as she racked up 1153 assists (9.85 per set) and tied for second with teammate Kayla Albritton in service aces with 47 (.40 per set).

Prior to 2009, Kennesaw State had won 11 matches in the first three years of the program's existence. This season, under first-year head coach Karen Weatherington, the Owls won 17 and earned their first-ever berth into the conference championship. The Owls clinched the No. 5 seed and qualified for the Atlantic Sun Championship in their first year of eligibility. Second Team All-Conference member Sabrita Gulley stands as the first KSU volleyball player to record 300 kills and 300 digs in the same season. The junior middle hitter ranks second on the team in both of those categories and owns a team-best 14 double-doubles. The Owls feature one of the best front lines in the conference, as sophomore Callie Churchwell finished the A-Sun season with the most blocks of any player in conference matches. The middle hitter Churchwell tallied 88 against league foes, en route to becoming the first KSU volleyball player to record over 100 blocks in a season, 112. This season, the Vero Beach, Fla. native finished the regular season third overall with a .321 hitting percentage and third in blocks. In A-Sun matches, Churchwell boasted a .400 hitting percentage.

Senior Asjia Stokes accomplished a number of feats for the Owls this season, becoming the first player in KSU history to tally 300 kills in a season and the first to earn an A-Sun Player of the Week award (Sept. 14). The outside hitter ended the regular season ranked sixth in overall matches with 359 kills (3.52 per set), fifth in points with 405.0 (3.85 per set), sixth in A-Sun matches with 252 kills (3.41 per set) and seventh in points with 283.5 (3.83 per set). At No. 161, the Owls placed as one of five A-Sun teams ranking in the top half of the latest RPI rankings. Kennesaw State’s best RPI win came against Belmont, who enters the tournament ranked No. 124. That win, played at home on Oct. 17 marked the first for the Owls in six A-Sun meetings with the Bruins. The winner between Belmont and Kennesaw State will face top-seeded Lipscomb on Friday at 5:00 p.m. in one semifinal.

Host FGCU takes on No. 6 Campbell at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday in a day’s second first-round contest. The Eagles, the host for the Atlantic Sun Championship, concluded the regular season with a 16-12 overall record and a 15-5 mark in A-Sun Conference play. In FGCU’s three seasons in the A-Sun, the Eagles carry a 53-9 league record, including an astounding 35-5 tally at home in Alico Arena. FGCU heads into the 25th Atlantic Sun Tournament winning five of its last seven matches and feature all-conference selections Jelena Simic and Chandra Lefever. Simic started and played in 27 of FGCU’s 28 matches. For the season, the middle hitter ranked third overall in the conference with 364 kills (3.68 per set) and 398.5 points (4.03 per set). In A-Sun matches, Simic finished second with 288 kills (3.79 per set) and 314.0 points (4.13 per set). The Lazarevac, Serbia native led the Eagles in total attacks, kills, and kills per set, recorded 19 or more kills in six matches this season, racking up a noteworthy season-high 25 kills at Jacksonville on Sept. 25.

Lefever, a senior setter, started in all 28 matches for the Eagles this season as the Fort Morgan, Colo. native ranked fourth and eighth overall in the conference with 1,035 assists and 34 service aces. On Thursday, FGCU and Campbell meet for just the sixth time overall and for the first time in A-Sun play. Before the Eagles joined the A-Sun in 2007 the two teams had never played. FGCU leads the all-time series, 5-0. During the 2009 campaign, the Eagles own a 2-0 mark against the Camels, sweeping CU in Buies Creek, N.C. and in Alico Arena.

Campbell comes into the 2009 Atlantic Sun Championship with an overall record of 17-14 and A-Sun record of 10-10, one of the best regular-seasons in school history, setting a conference total wins record and notching the program's most wins since 2001. The Camels qualified for the six-team tournament as the No. 6 seed for the second consecutive year, the first time since the 2000 and 2001 seasons that the Camels made back-to-back A-Sun Championships. Campbell clinched the seed with ETSU and Mercer losses, as both teams dropped contests to Lipscomb and Jacksonville on Saturday, respectively.

Senior middle blocker Ashley Weers will lead the Campbell charge on Thursday after earning First-Team All-Atlantic Sun honors. The Littleton, Colo. native finished the regular season with an Atlantic Sun-best .368 attack percentage, a Campbell all-time record, topping Rachel Templin's 2006 mark. Through the season, Weers blocked her way up the CU all-time charts, standing at sixth in total and assisted blocks, while ranking ninth in solo blocks. For her performance during the season, the Weers twice earned A-Sun Player of the Week awards on Aug. 31 and Sept. 28, and notched individual match and season career-highs in kills, attack percentage, blocks and points. Freshman outside hitter Jordan Reaves landed on the A-Sun All-Freshman accolades. The winner between the Camels and Eagles will face No. 2 Jacksonville at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.

Lipscomb picked up the regular-season title and enters the 2009 Atlantic Sun Championship on a 24-match winning streak, while sporting a 26-3 overall record and a perfect 20-0 record in the A-Sun, making the Lady Bisons the first team in A-Sun history to go undefeated in double round robin play. Jacksonville secured the No. 2 seed with an overall record of 19-8 and an A-Sun mark of 15-5. The A-Sun boasted the only two schools in the country with concurrent win streaks of at least 10 matches in Jacksonville and Lipscomb, until Oct. 30 when the Lady Bisons defeated the Dolphins in the second half of round robin play. Jacksonville’s streak reached 13, a streak representing the longest under head coach Shaun Kupferberg, as well as the longest winning streak for the Dolphins since joining the A-Sun in 1998.

Fans can watch all the championship action on ASun.TV. Individual matches cost $5.99, or one can buy the entire tournament for $9.99. For updates from the championship, one can follow the Atlantic Sun on Twitter and on Facebook. Visit twitter.com/AtlanticSun to begin receiving updates from Fort Myers. Atlantic Sun followers with a Facebook account can become a "fan" of the conference by searching for the Atlantic Sun Conference. As part of in-game coverage, the conference will provide a live blog, courtesy CoverItLive.com

The Atlantic Sun Conference is an 11-member league committed to Building Winners for Life. The A-Sun stands for achievement with integrity in both the academic and athletic arenas, with a focus on the balance between the two for our student-athletes. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun boasts six of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun includes a blend of the most prestigious and 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.