University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Volleyball Heads to Radford Friday Night
09.24.2009 | Women's Volleyball
The Bulldogs (12-5, 1-0 BSC) opened league play with a hard-fought win over Gardner-Webb Tuesday night as Asheville won in four sets. Radford is 9-6 on the season and Friday's night match will be the first league tilt for the Highlanders.
The Bulldogs got a double-double from Lauren Ficker on Tuesday. She picked up her second double-double of the year with 13 kills and 10 digs. Sophomore Cindi Miller finished with 11 kills, while freshman Holly Shelton had eight blocks. Raquel Miotto had 23 digs.
"We did a good job blocking in the Gardner-Webb match," commented head coach Julie Torbett. "However, we didn't do as good a job passing and serving as we've done this year. We'll need to better in both of those areas on Friday."
Torbett expects a tough match with the Highlanders.
"Radford has always been a difficult place for us to play over the years," declared Torbett. "We know we're going to have to play well in a tough environment to have a chance at winning. Radford is a good team that is playing quite well right now."
Asheville is being led this year by senior Lauren Ficker. She is second in the Big South in hitting percentage at .330. The Hendersonville native has been placed on three all-tournament teams and was the MVP of the USC Upstate Invitational earlier this month. Senior libero Raquel Miotto is also having a great season. She leads the Big South in digs with a 5.26 per game average and is second in service aces at 0.59.
NOTES - Torbett is the Big South's all-time winningest coach in overall victories (272) and Big South victories (102)...the Bulldogs are 2-0 in road matches this year and 10-5 away from Justice Center...Asheville's 12-5 start is the best mark since the 2005 season.
