University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Volleyball Travels to Liberty on Friday for First-Place Showdown
11.05.2009 | Women's Volleyball
Both teams are 10-2 in the league and are two games in front of third-place Coastal Carolina and Winthrop. Asheville bounced back from a frustrating five-set defeat at Charleston Southern on Saturday to down Gardner-Webb in four sets Tuesday night on the road. The Lady Flames (15-10) have won five of their last six matches and all five wins have been Big South Conference victories.
Asheville (21-8) defeated Liberty at Justice Center back on Oct. 10 in four close sets. Bulldog coach Julie Torbett knows her team will have a tough match on Friday.
"We know Liberty is playing well, and it will be an extremely tough match," commented Torbett. "We're going to have to be at our best to have a chance at winning.
"However, this is quite exciting," added Torbett. "You want to play important matches in the final month of the season. It should be great atmosphere on Friday night and hopefully we'll play well."
The Bulldogs play at High Point Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. Asheville defeated the Panthers in three sets at Justice Center on Oct. 9. However, High Point is playing much better after that match.
"Right after we played High Point, they beat Liberty and have played much better," added Torbett. "It's always a tough match at High Point. Saturday will be no exception."
NOTES - UNC Asheville has not won at Liberty since the 2005 season...the teams have met in five of the last seven Big South Conference Tournaments...senior libero Raquel Miotto leads the conference with 58 aces and ranks second with 555 digs and is one of five players in NCAA history to notch more than 2,500 career digs...Miotto has 2,535 digs entering this weekend's action...junior outside hitter Kelsey Benorden became the 10th Bulldog ever to record at least 1,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs, reaching the milestone during UNC Asheville's 3-1 win at Gardner-Webb on Tuesday...Benorden now has 1,019 digs and 1,240 kills...she also has 16 double-doubles on the year.
