Bulldog Volleyball Set to Play in Chattanooga This Weekend

ASHEVILLE, N.C. - The UNC Asheville volleyball team will play in its final in-season tournament of the season this weekend when the Bulldogs head to Chattanooga to take part in the Country Inn & Suites Invitational.

Asheville (3-4) plays two matches on Friday and one on Saturday. The Bulldogs will battle ETSU (3-4) at 11 a.m. on Friday, followed by a match with Tennessee Tech (0-7) at 3 p.m. On Saturday, Asheville faces host Chattanooga (1-6) at 4 p.m.

The Bulldogs went 2-2 last week at the Gamecock Invitational at South Carolina. Asheville stunned unbeaten Elon in three sets and edged Gardner-Webb in five sets before falling to both Davidson and South Carolina in three sets. Senior outside hitter Cindi Miller enjoyed an excellent weekend with her play and was named to the All-Tournament team.

"We really did a nice job at South Carolina for the most part," commented first-year coach Frederico Santos. "Our team still has improving to do but I definitely saw improvement from the first weekend to the second weekend. We hope to continue that improvement this weekend against three strong opponents."

Asheville hopes to end a four-game losing streak to the Lady Bucs in the first match. The Bulldogs have not beaten ETSU since a five-set win in the 2006 season. Asheville has lost three all three meetings to Tennessee Tech and is 2-1 vs. Chattanooga.

"We will face three good opponents in Chattanooga this weekend," explained Santos. "ETSU always has a good team and is always a tough opponent. Tennessee Tech and Chattanooga's records are very deceiving as they've play some excellent opponents so far."

BULLDOG NOTES

Cindi Miller leads Asheville in kills with a 3.20 per set average. She is second in digs with a 3.00 mark.

Sophomore Anna Moore tops the Bulldogs in blocks with a 0.52 average

Sophomore libero Alex Stewart leads the team in digs with a 4.24 mark.

Chattanooga was once coached by Lisa Rhodes, who is a native of Asheville and coached at UNC Asheville from 1989-1993. She led the Bulldogs to three Big South Conference regular-season titles (1990, 1991, 1992) and two tournament titles (1991 & 1992). Rhodes coached at Chattanooga from 1994 through last season.

The Bulldogs will finally play a home game on Sept. 23 against Gardner-Webb. Asheville will have played 12 matches away from home before finally getting a match at Justice Center.