The Southern Trek
11/10/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The USC Upstate volleyball team will wrap up its third season of Division I play this weekend as they make the trip to the Southern outposts of the Atlantic Sun Conference, facing Florida Gulf Coast, who won the 2007 and 2008 A-Sun regular season titles, on Thursday before wrapping up the season against Stetson on Saturday.
The Spartans will once again try to play the role of the spoiler against the Eagles, as an Eagles' loss would possibly help Jacksonville earn the No. 2 seed in the A-Sun Tournament, which FGCU currently holds. Against the Hatters on Saturday, Upstate will look to stay perfect in the Edmunds Center, having won both matches against the Hatters in the building. In 2008, the Spartans posted a convincing, 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-17) win in the building, hitting a solid .284 in the match and getting 18 digs from Megan Healey, who has 64 career digs in four matches against Stetson.
Quick Hits
• Head coach Jennifer Calloway needs one more win
in A-Sun play to post her 100th career conference win. Calloway, in
her 14th year at Upstate, won 89 matches in 11 years in the Peach
Belt Conference.
• Junior Megan Healey moved into sixth place in school history as she posted a match-high 12 digs on Nov. 7 against Lipscomb. The junior has 1,075 career digs, just 20 behind Angie Gambrell's fifth-best mark of 1,095, set from 1986-89.
• Junior Erin Jacobsen needs six blocks in the last two matches to become the first player in Upstate's D-I era to reach 100 in a season.
• Senior Morgan Bucciferro enters the week with 2,235 career assists, just 43 shy of Lisa Wilson's fourth-best mark of 2,278, set from 1989-92.
• Upstate has three of the five A-Sun freshmen that have appeared in 90 or more sets this year in Emily Sanders (102), Mindy Quimby (100) and Paige Weiland (93).
• Freshman Emily Sanders leads all A-Sun freshmen in assists, posting 481 on the season. She is second to Stetson's Kelli Carneal in assists per set, but Carneal has played in 67 sets to Sanders' 102.
• Fourteen of Upstate's 20 double-doubles this season have been posted by freshmen, with freshmanEmily Sanders leading the way with a team-high nine assist-dig efforts. Paige Weiland has added three kill-dig efforts and Mindy Quimby also has two kill-dig double-doubles to her credit.
Morgan's Milestones
Senior Morgan Bucciferro will look to close out her
career this weekend by moving into fourth in school history in
career assists, needing 43 assists to pass Lisa Wilson, who posted
2,278 from 1986-89. Earlier this year, Bucciferro passed her former
teammate, Holly Mauldin '09, who finished with 2,045
assists and she also became the first player in the D-I era to
reach 1,250 assists in Upstate's win over Stetson on Oct. 2. She
became the sixth player in school history to reach 2,000 career
assists on Sept. 22 at Presbyterian. Bucciferro, who has been in a
6-2 setting rotation during all of her time at Upstate, has played
in 122 career matches, averaging 5.56 assists per set.
Megan's Mark
Junior Megan Healey became the first player in the D-I
era to reach 1,000 career digs and the eighth in school history to
reach the plateau with her 10th of 14 digs on Oct. 20 at
Gardner-Webb. The St. Louis, Mo., native has played libero in all
but two matches during her career at Upstate and has quickly moved
closer to the top of the all-time digs category, entering the
weekend sixth with 1,075 digs, just 20 shy of the fifth-place mark
of Angie Gambrell, who posted 1,095 from 1986-89.
The libero also posted two aces against Stetson on Oct. 2 to become the first player in the D-I era to reach 100 in a career. The two-time team captain is currently tied for 16th in school history with 108 career aces.
Fresh Faces
The three Upstate freshmen have made as valuable an imprint on the
team as any rookie trio in the A-Sun. Between Emily
Sanders, Mindy Quimby and Paige Weiland, the trio
has combined for 14 double-doubles and all three are currently
amongst the conference's freshmen leaders in sets played. Sanders,
who leads Upstate with nine double-doubles, leads all conference
freshmen in assists, posting 481 on the season while her 215 digs
is third. Weiland, who has posted three double-doubles, is third
amongst A-Sun freshman in kills (1.75) and seventh in digs (1.9).
Quimby, who has come on strong late in the season to post two
double-doubles, is fourth among A-Sun freshmen in kills (136) and
fourth in digs (194) and blocks (28).
