University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Photo by: Adrian Etheridge
UNC Asheville Volleyball Set to Open Season at Benson Hospitality Invitational
08.24.2017 | Women's Volleyball
Benson Hospitality Invitational Tournament Central - Live Stats and Video Information
ATHENS, Ga. - UNC Asheville will open its regular season at Georgia's Benson Hospitality Invitational at the Ramsey Volleyball Arena for the second straight year.
This season, the Bulldogs in blue and white will begin their season with a pair of matches against LIU Brooklyn and George Mason on the first day of the tournament, Friday, Aug. 25. The following day, Asheville will face off against the host Bulldogs in red and black.
Asheville's matchup in the Benson Hospitality Invitational against the Blackbirds of LIU Brooklyn is set for a 9 a.m. first serve on Friday, Aug. 25. The Bulldogs will close out the first day of the tournament by taking on George Mason at 1:30 p.m.
UNC Asheville is scheduled to take on host Georgia at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 26. The match will be able to be viewed live on a videostream on SEC Network+.
BULLDOG BITES
About UNC Asheville
The 2017 squad will feature one of the youngest rosters in the conference with seven sophomores and four freshmen complemented by three juniors. Last season, the 2016 team went 12-16, reaching the Big South Conference Championship, with a roster comprised of seven freshmen, three sophomores, one junior and two seniors.
The Bulldogs were picked seventh in the 2017 Big South Conference Preseason Volleyball Poll that was released by the league office recently. Defending Big South champion High Point was tabbed as the league favorite, while Radford was just behind in second. Liberty was picked to finish third.
Scouting LIU Brooklyn
The defending Northeast Conference (NEC) Tournament champions are the choice this year to repeat in the league as well. The Blackbirds return eight players from last year's team that finished with an overall record of 16-15. This will be the first-ever meeting between the Bulldogs and the Blackbirds.
Scouting George Mason
The Patriots return 10 letterwinners from last year's team, including four starters plus the libero. Mason finished last season with an overall record of 7-20, which included a 3-11 record in conference play in the Atlantic 10. George Mason owns a slight 1-0 all-time series advantage over the Bulldogs.
Scouting Georgia
Last season, Georgia posted an overall record of 13-18 (1-17 SEC). The Bulldogs return 13 of 16 letterwinners from last year this season. They also return four starters plus the libero. Georgia owns a 2-0 all-time series advantage over UNC Asheville.
Bulldogs at Benson Hospitality Invitational Last Season
In the opening match of the tournament last season against Georgia, UNC Asheville lost the first set 25-19 before taking a 25-23 win in the second set. Georgia would go on to win the next two sets to claim a 3-1 win on Aug. 26, 2016. In Asheville's second match of the tournament, San Francisco picked up a 3-0 win.
The Bulldogs closed out the event on Saturday, Aug. 27, by picking up a commanding 3-0 win over Savannah State. Cara Guthrie, who was chosen to the All-Tournament team, had 15 kills in the win over the Tigers.
Quotables
What are your overall thoughts entering the first tournament of the regular season?
"I think my first thought is that we are very talented team. I think the key to your success in any sport that you are in is how to make the individual parts work together as a team, and I think that is what we are going to find out this weekend is what moving parts work together. I think that we have a little bit of a luxury to really try out a lot of things, and get set for conference play, which I think is what we really want to focus on." – Head Coach Frederico Santos
What are your thoughts on the overall field at the Benson Hospitality Invitational?
"I think great competition is going to make your team great, and if we can't rise up to the challenge then that is something we need to fix. But hopefully, we're going to rise up to the challenge of playing tough teams, and that's what I want. I want to challenge our players." – Head Coach Frederico Santos
Up Next
Following play in the Benson Hospitality Invitational, UNC Asheville will next travel to Tallahassee, Fla., for perhaps one of the team's toughest challenge of the season in Florida State's Home2 Suites by Hilton – Tallahassee Seminole Tournament. All three of the Bulldogs' opponents in Tallahassee advanced to the NCAA Tournament last season and boasted a combined record of 62-28. On Friday, Sept. 1, Asheville will take on the host Seminoles and Colorado State. Both programs finished 2016 with more than 20 wins on the year and each finished second in their respective conference regular season standings. On Saturday, Sept. 2, UNC Asheville will face off against TCU.
ATHENS, Ga. - UNC Asheville will open its regular season at Georgia's Benson Hospitality Invitational at the Ramsey Volleyball Arena for the second straight year.
This season, the Bulldogs in blue and white will begin their season with a pair of matches against LIU Brooklyn and George Mason on the first day of the tournament, Friday, Aug. 25. The following day, Asheville will face off against the host Bulldogs in red and black.
Asheville's matchup in the Benson Hospitality Invitational against the Blackbirds of LIU Brooklyn is set for a 9 a.m. first serve on Friday, Aug. 25. The Bulldogs will close out the first day of the tournament by taking on George Mason at 1:30 p.m.
UNC Asheville is scheduled to take on host Georgia at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 26. The match will be able to be viewed live on a videostream on SEC Network+.
BULLDOG BITES
About UNC Asheville
The 2017 squad will feature one of the youngest rosters in the conference with seven sophomores and four freshmen complemented by three juniors. Last season, the 2016 team went 12-16, reaching the Big South Conference Championship, with a roster comprised of seven freshmen, three sophomores, one junior and two seniors.
The Bulldogs were picked seventh in the 2017 Big South Conference Preseason Volleyball Poll that was released by the league office recently. Defending Big South champion High Point was tabbed as the league favorite, while Radford was just behind in second. Liberty was picked to finish third.
Scouting LIU Brooklyn
The defending Northeast Conference (NEC) Tournament champions are the choice this year to repeat in the league as well. The Blackbirds return eight players from last year's team that finished with an overall record of 16-15. This will be the first-ever meeting between the Bulldogs and the Blackbirds.
Scouting George Mason
The Patriots return 10 letterwinners from last year's team, including four starters plus the libero. Mason finished last season with an overall record of 7-20, which included a 3-11 record in conference play in the Atlantic 10. George Mason owns a slight 1-0 all-time series advantage over the Bulldogs.
Scouting Georgia
Last season, Georgia posted an overall record of 13-18 (1-17 SEC). The Bulldogs return 13 of 16 letterwinners from last year this season. They also return four starters plus the libero. Georgia owns a 2-0 all-time series advantage over UNC Asheville.
Bulldogs at Benson Hospitality Invitational Last Season
In the opening match of the tournament last season against Georgia, UNC Asheville lost the first set 25-19 before taking a 25-23 win in the second set. Georgia would go on to win the next two sets to claim a 3-1 win on Aug. 26, 2016. In Asheville's second match of the tournament, San Francisco picked up a 3-0 win.
The Bulldogs closed out the event on Saturday, Aug. 27, by picking up a commanding 3-0 win over Savannah State. Cara Guthrie, who was chosen to the All-Tournament team, had 15 kills in the win over the Tigers.
Quotables
What are your overall thoughts entering the first tournament of the regular season?
"I think my first thought is that we are very talented team. I think the key to your success in any sport that you are in is how to make the individual parts work together as a team, and I think that is what we are going to find out this weekend is what moving parts work together. I think that we have a little bit of a luxury to really try out a lot of things, and get set for conference play, which I think is what we really want to focus on." – Head Coach Frederico Santos
What are your thoughts on the overall field at the Benson Hospitality Invitational?
"I think great competition is going to make your team great, and if we can't rise up to the challenge then that is something we need to fix. But hopefully, we're going to rise up to the challenge of playing tough teams, and that's what I want. I want to challenge our players." – Head Coach Frederico Santos
Up Next
Following play in the Benson Hospitality Invitational, UNC Asheville will next travel to Tallahassee, Fla., for perhaps one of the team's toughest challenge of the season in Florida State's Home2 Suites by Hilton – Tallahassee Seminole Tournament. All three of the Bulldogs' opponents in Tallahassee advanced to the NCAA Tournament last season and boasted a combined record of 62-28. On Friday, Sept. 1, Asheville will take on the host Seminoles and Colorado State. Both programs finished 2016 with more than 20 wins on the year and each finished second in their respective conference regular season standings. On Saturday, Sept. 2, UNC Asheville will face off against TCU.
Players Mentioned
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