University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Volleyball Faces Radford in Quarterfinals Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
11.16.2009 | Women's Volleyball
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - The UNC Asheville volleyball team will be the top seed in the 2009 Big South Conference Tournament this week and will open the tournament against eighth-seeded and host Radford Thursday night at the Dedmon Center starting at 7:30 p.m.
The Bulldogs finished the regular-season with a 24-9 overall record and 13-3 mark in Big South Conference play. Asheville finished tied with Liberty for first place but earned the top seed with two wins over the Flames.
Asheville clinched the top seed in dramatic fashion on Saturday with a thrilling five-set win over Winthrop at Justice Center. It was the Bulldogs fifth regular-season title in school history as Asheville claimed regular-season titles in 1990, 1991, 1992, 2002 and now 2009.
The Bulldogs defeated Radford twice this year but had to go five sets to beat them back on Sept. 25 at Radford.
Winthrop lands the No. 3 seed following its 11-5 Conference season, with Coastal Carolina earning the No. 4 seed with its 10-6 League mark. High Point and Charleston Southern tied in the Big South standings at 6-10, and the Panthers receive the No. 5 seed with its season sweep of the Lady Buccaneers, giving CSU the sixth seed. Gardner-Webb notches the No. 7 seed (4-12 in League play) with tournament host Radford receiving the No. 8 seed with its 2-14 Big South record in 2009. Presbyterian College officially finished fifth in the regular-season with its 7-9 Conference mark, but the Blue Hose are not eligible for the postseason tournament until the 2011 season due to its transition to Division I.
The 2009 Big South Volleyball Championship presented by Musco Lighting begins Thursday, Nov. 19 with four matches and concludes with the Championship game on Saturday, Nov. 21. The Big South's Tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Volleyball Championship. All matches will be video streamed live on the Conference's online broadband channel, The Big South Network, and in-game statistics will be available on www.BigSouthSports.com and www.radfordathletics.com. The Conference Championship schedule is as follows:
Thursday, Nov. 19 - Quarterfinals *
Match 1: No. 2 seed Liberty vs. No. 7 seed Gardner-Webb, 12:00pm ET
Match 2: No. 3 seed Winthrop vs. No. 6 seed Charleston Southern, 2:30pm ET
Match 3: No. 4 seed Coastal Carolina vs. No. 5 seed High Point, 5:00pm ET
Match 4: No. 1 seed UNC Asheville vs. No. 8 seed Radford, 7:30pm ET
* - the bracket has been adjusted to allow the host institution to play in the late match
Friday, Nov. 20 - Semifinals
Match 5: Match 1 winner vs. Match 2 winner, 4:30pm ET
Match 6: Match 3 winner vs. Match 4 winner, 7:00pm ET
Saturday, Nov. 21 - Championship
Match 7: Match 5 winner vs. Match 6 winner, 2:00pm ET
