Game Notes (.pdf)

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Spartans will play Gardner-Webb at 7 p.m. on Tuesday evening to begin week four of NCAA women's volleyball. Later in the week, Upstate will square off against conference foe, Stetson, for  the "U"'s first "home game" of the 2010 season in Spartanburg on Thursday before entering tournament play on Friday and Saturday at the Wofford Tournament.

 SCOUTING THE GARDNER-WEBB BULLDOGS

400!

Head volleyball coach Chris Phillips picked up her 400th career victory on Friday September 10, in GWU's 3-2 win over Wofford at the GWU Runnin' Bulldog Classic.

 Four different Runnin' Bulldogs posted double-digit kills in the contest and were led by sophomore Melissa Richie's career high 18 kills.  Sophomore outside hitter Molly Rhyne and freshman Tyler Cockrell each added 15 kills apiece, while junior middle blocker Laura Wilcox had 10 kills and two service aces over the five set match.

Getting A "W" In The Season Opener

The 2010 GWU volleyball team picked up a 3-0 win in its season opener versus NCCU on Friday, August 27. It was the first time that GWU started out with a win since a 3-2 win over UNC Greensboro in 2004.

Who Needs Seniors?!

The 2010 Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldog roster is made up of 12 student athletes and not one of them is a senior. Coach Phillips' squad is comprised up of three juniors, four sophomores and five freshmen.

GWU junior Evan Moffitt will line up as the setter for the Runnin' Bulldogs this season, the position she was recruited to play coming into Gardner-Webb back in 2008. Moffitt, who played on the outside as a freshman and in the middle last season, will replace Regina Feagin who finished up as GWU's Division I career set assists leader.

The GWU volleyball team will have five new faces on the court in 2010, as freshmen newcomers Erin Anderson, Tyler Cockrell, Emily Holte, Amanda Murphy and Meg Taylor will all see their first time as Runnin' Bulldogs this season.

Young But Experienced

While the 2010 team is very young with all 12 players underclassmen, the Runnin' Bulldogs are very experienced. The three juniors - Laura Wilcox, Lauren Evans, and Evan Moffit - all saw quality playing time over the last two seasons, with all contributing immediately. As for the four sophomores in Molly Rhyne, Carol Solano, Melissa Richie and Dominique Bray, all saw time as freshmen last season, with three of the four starting in all 34 matches.

GWU's volleyball team will looked to prove the nah-sayers wrong, as the Runnin' Bulldogs were selected to finish eighth overall in the Big South in the 2010 Big South Volleyball Preseason Poll. The Runnin' Bulldogs were selected ahead of Radford and behind Presbyterian College. GWU went 4-12 in conference play in 2009 and will look to improve on its win total this season.

SCOUTING THE STETSON HATTERS

Hatters Tabbed 11th

Coming off a difficult, illness and injury-riddled season in 2009, the Hatters were predicted for an 11th place finish in the Atlantic Sun Conference preseason coaches poll.

For the first time since September 29, 2009 the Stetson volleyball team tasted victory as the Hatters defeated Volusia County rival Bethune-Cookman 23-25, 25-17, 25-19, 25-21 to open the Clarion Invitational at the Edmunds Center on Friday September 3.

SCOUTING THE WOFFORD TERRIERS

Young Pups

Out of the 12 members of the 2010 Terrier volleyball squad, nine players are either freshman or sophomores. Despite the team's youth, three of the returning sophomores were starters on the 2009 team that went 18-14 on the year. This group includes Reagan Styles (libero), Arden Anderson (middle blocker) and Rachel Woodlee (outside hitter).

Old Dogs

The Terriers will be led by three returning seniors: Catelyn Amende, Stacy Byrd and Courtney Shippy. Amende and Byrd have been starters their entire career at Wofford. Byrd led the team in kills last year with 313 and a 2.93 kills per set average, which was fifth in the Southern Conference. Amende set a school record last season as a junior for season attack percentage with a .285 mark. She also set a new school record for single match attack percentage with a .818 mark against Savannah State. Shippy had playing time in 15 matches last season.

SCOUTING THE SIU-EDWARDSVILLE COUGARS

Tournament Victors

SIUE picked up its first tournament victory in the Division I era over the weekend of September 3-4. SIUE won the Drury Inn ISU Classic on the campus of Indiana State University this past weekend. The Cougars lost to Indiana State in five sets but came back for a four-set win over Montana State and a three-set sweep over Western Carolina. With SIUE, Indiana State, and Montana State all finishing with a 2-1 record, SIUE was handed the tournament's first-place finish with tiebreaker rules in effect.

Sydney Winslow needs 67 kills to become the seventh player in school history to record 1,000 kills.

SIUE had three players listed in the All-Tournament team at the Drury Inn ISU Classic. Sydney Winslow was named the tournament Most Valuable Player after hitting .341 with 40 kills. Freshmen Lexi Cibuka and Kelsey Augustine also were named All-Tournament.

Hit It Hard

Augustine took over the tops in hitting percentage among regular hitters. In 25 sets, she has a .373 hitting percentage with 13 blocks.

Libero Moves

Karie Downing, who started last season as a middle hitter and moved to outside hitter by the end of the 2009 season, is now the team's libero. She is averaging a team-leading 4.28 digs per set.

UPSTATE NOTES

Downey Dominates

Following three contests in two days, senior Katie Downey was been recognized to the Myrtle Beach Comfort Suites Invitational All-Tournament team on September 11.

Downey, a 6-0 senior from Belleville, Ill., led Upstate during the tournament in hitting percentage (.391) as she connected on 26 kills on 46 attacks. The middle blocker also tallied a single solo block and seven block assists on the weekend.

In addition to her offensive performance at the tournament, Downey found an assist, 12 digs and an ace.

Mad About Mindy

Mindy Quimby, an Upstate sophomore and Colorado native, earned a slot on the Appalachian Invitational All-Tournament team following her standout performance at the tournament (September 3-4).

The 5-10 sophomore outside hitter, originally from Keenesburg, Colo., finished out the tournament with an impressive 33 kills in 11 sets over 101 total attacks (.198). Quimby also recorded a pair of assists and a service ace over the course of the tournament. Defensively, the sophomore found 15 digs over the weekend (1.36) and a pair of block assists.

Sander's Tournament

USC Upstate sophomore and Illinois native, Emily Sanders earned a slot on the Hotels at Grand Prairie Invitational (Peoria, Ill.) All-Tournament team following her standout performance in the Midwest.

The 5-6 setter, originally from Sullivan, Ill., finished out the tournament after playing 14 sets in three contests over two days. Sanders notched seven kills on 36 attacks (.139) and found 161 assists for an 11.5 assist-to-set percentage. The sophomore also picked up 50 digs for a 1.93 dig-to-set percentage and recorded one solo block and one assisted block for a pair total.

Double Trouble

Emily Sanders has posted a double-double on assists and digs in eight of the Spartans nine contests. Sanders biggest performance came on August 28, against Western Illinois when the sophomore put up 57 helpers and tallied 17 digs.

Additionally, Cori Harris has found a trio of double-doubles and Mindy Quimby has a single.

ASun Rankings

Upstate (Team)

                4th in hitting percentage (.185)

                3rd in assists - 432 over 38 sets (11.37)

                4th in kills - 460 over 38 sets (12.11)

                9th in blocks - 61.0 blocks over 38 sets (1.61)

                10th in service aces 40 over 38 sets (1.05)

                2nd in digs - 627 over 38 sets (16.50)

Katie Downey

                4th in hitting percentage with 82 kills in 177 attacks (.311)

Cori Harris

                8th in kills with 101 over 38 sets (2.66)

                3rd in service aces with 9 over 25 sets (0.36)

                9th in points with 121.0 over 38 sets (3.18)

Megan Healey

                4th in digs with 149 over 38 sets (3.92)

Mindy Quimby

                10th in kills with 91 over 38 sets (2.39)

                4th in service aces with 13 over 38 sets (0.34)

Emily Sanders

                2nd in assists with 394 over 38 sets (10.37)

                9th in digs with 136 over 38 sets (3.58)

A Triple Double-Double

For the second time in the Division I-era, Upstate had three players notch double-doubles in a five set loss to Bradley on Aug. 28. Newcomer Cori Harris found the floor on 13 kills and found 10 digs, Emily Sanders put up 51 helpers and notched 19 digs and Mindy Quimby registered 14 kills and 10 digs.

Later in the evening, on Aug. 28, the Spartans would find double-double performances again from Harris and Sanders who put 24 kills/14 digs and 57 assists/17 digs, respectfully, before another tough five set loss.

Spartans Selected 10th

USC Upstate has been selected to finish 10th in the A-Sun preseason coaches poll. Coming off its 2009 season with a program best 28-4 record, Lipscomb was selected as the preseason favorite to claim both the regular season and tournament championship. The Lady Bisons, who picked up 10 out of 11 first place votes for the regular season title, also nabbed 10 votes for the tournament champion's ballot.

Road Warriors

Spartan volleyball will not take the floor in the G.B. Hodge Center this season due to renovations happening in the Arena; which means that the 2010 season will take place "on the road" in every contest. Matches that are considered "home events" for Upstate will be held in Spartanburg at various locations, listed below.

Mrs. Dodie Anderson, a 1981 graduate of USC Upstate with a degree in interdisciplinary studies, announced on Wednesday October 14, 2009 that she would be providing the University with a $4 million gift to fund the project of renovating the Hodge Center.

Outside of the gym area, the women's basketball and volleyball programs will get their own locker room facilities after sharing a locker room for the better part of two decades. The athletic training facility will be expanded, while the performance center will open in the site of the old gym and will house the strength and conditioning program for the Spartan athletic teams.

"The volleyball program is deeply grateful to Mrs. Anderson for this most recent demonstration of her ongoing commitment to Upstate, a gift that will significantly upgrade our volleyball facilities," said Jennifer Calloway, head coach of the volleyball program and a 1994 graduate of USC Upstate.

Newcomers

Amanda Carroll, a 5-8 setter from Lake In The Hills, Ill., was a three-year starter at Huntley High School and a two-time Daily-Herald All-Area selection. She helped the Red Raiders post a 29-10 record as a senior, finishing the regular season with 585 assists, 63 kills, 39 aces and 140 digs. She also earned second team all-area honors from the Northwest Herald. As a junior, Carroll helped Huntley to the Class 4A sectional finals, posting 642 assists, 51 aces, 114 digs, 19 solo blocks and a .391 hitting percentage. Carroll has also been involved with the prestigious Sky High Volleyball Club since she turned 13.

Cori Harris, a 5-10 outside hitter from Champaign, Ill., is a dynamic personality that helped Centennial High School to 101 wins in her three years on the squad and she also helped the team to two Elite Eight berths. As a senior, she was the team leader in kills (258) and aces (school-record 99) and ranked second in digs (159), helping her earn News-Gazette Area Player of the Year, All-Area First Team and first team all-state accolades. As a junior, the left-handed hitter earned News-Gazette All-Area after posting 212 kills and 56 blocks to help lead the Chargers to the super-sectionals and a school-record 34 wins. A two-time All-Big 12 Conference First Team selection, she finished her career with 659 career kills, the third most in school history. In February, she was also named to the News-Gazette's Area Prep Volleyball All-Decade Team.

Morgan Page, a 5-6 defensive specialist from Woodstock, Ga., earned four letters at Sequoyah High School, leading the school to its 15th Cherokee County Championship in the last 19 years in 2009. She also led the team to an Area 7-AAAA title and earned all-area honors in the process, helping the Chiefs to a final ranking of fifth in the state. Also involved in club volleyball, Page played with the A5 Pure Volleyball club program.

Allison Frodl, a 5-11 right side hitter from Simpsonville, S.C., was a letterwinner at Hillcrest High School under coach Lynn Avant. As a senior she was recognized as being a Top-40 Senior by her peers.