Bulldog Volleyball to Host Liberty in Dig Pink Match on Saturday

ASHEVILLE, N.C. - The UNC Asheville volleyball team will play just its third home match of the season on Saturday when the Bulldogs host Big South-leader Liberty University at Justice Center starting at 2 p.m. The match will be video-streamed and can be seen for a small fee at www.uncabulldogs.com.

Saturday's match will be the Bulldogs' Dig-Pink event to help raise money for breast cancer research. Fans are encouraged to wear pink to the match and donate to the Side-Out Foundation that raises money for the fight against breast cancer.

"We're looking forward to Saturday's match and glad to be playing another home match," commented Bulldog coach Julie Torbett. "We always enjoy our Dig Pink match because we all know someone that has suffered from breast cancer. We're looking forward to doing our part to help fight this disease."

Fans can make a donation at the game, or they can go UNC Asheville's website at www.uncabulldogs.com and make a donation there under the Dig Pink link.

Torbett's club is 12-8 on the season and 5-2 in Big South Conference play. The Bulldogs just got through a grueling six-game road stretch where they played those six matches in 10 days. Asheville went 4-2 in those matches but the Bulldogs are coming off a 3-1 loss at Winthrop last Saturday.

"We went through a pretty demanding stretch of road matches here in the past two weeks and managed to win more than we lost," commented Torbett. "However, we can play better and hopefully with a little rest we'll be ready to play Saturday against a very good Liberty squad."

The Lady Flames stand in first place with a 6-1 league mark. They are 15-7 overall. Liberty has won two of the last three Big South Conference championships and been in the last three title games. Asheville shared the BSC regular-season title with Liberty last season with the Bulldogs getting the top seed by virtue of two wins over the Flames during the season.

"Liberty is an extremely talented team that does a lot of things well," explained Torbett. "We're going to have to play at our best to have a chance at winning."

The Bulldogs are being led this year by the play of junior outside hitter Cindi Miller who is averaging 4.02 kills per set. Senior Kelsey Benorden is at 3.50 kills per set. Freshman Alex Stewart tops the club in digs with a 3.81 average.

BULLDOG NOTES

UNC Asheville coach Julie Torbett has recorded 297 coaching wins all with the Bulldogs...sophomore blocker Holly Shelton was named Big South Defensive Player of the Week on Monday...Asheville has played 20 matches on the year with 18 being away from home...the Bulldogs are 6-4 in road matches and 4-4 in neutral venues...Asheville is 18-5 in BSC matches dating back to last season.