Fall Flashback - 2002 UNC Asheville Volleyball

ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Never was a team more determined to prove a preseason poll wrong than the 2002 UNC Asheville volleyball team.

And never did a team prove it more wrong than that Bulldog squad.

Julie Torbett had built a solid program at Asheville and had been competitive in the Big South Conference. The 2001 season had been a tough season as the Bulldogs struggled with injuries throughout the year. They still managed to finish in fifth place in the Big South and roared past Charleston Southern in the league tournament before falling to eventual champion Radford in the semifinals.

Torbett's program had been a model of consistency as it had advanced to the semifinals of the league tournament in three of the past four years and finished in no lower than fifth place during that time.

That's why she and the rest of her team were shocked when in early August the Big South coaches and SIDs picked Asheville to finish in last place in the league for the 2002 season.

Torbett brought a chalk board out to the edge of the Justice Center court and put the prediction on the board during preseason practice. The Bulldogs would look at that prediction every day they played and practiced in Justice Center over the next three months.

And the next three months would bring one of the most compelling seasons in Bulldog volleyball history.

Going into the season, there was a bit of uncertainty about who would be playing for the Bulldogs. Torbett and assistant coach Frederico Santos had worked hard at recruiting in the off-season, determined to improve on the previous season's 7-21 record.

The newcomers included an international recruit named Frida Sigurdottir, a talented outside hitter who would turn into one of the best players in the Big South during her two-year career. Asheville did not have a setter returning and recruited freshman Amanda Wiles from Huntsville, Alabama. She brought along teammate Rose Butler. The duo would be fixtures in the Bulldog lineup for the next four years. Freshman Meghan Murphy would be a key defensive player for Asheville as well.

There was also some talent returning. Junior Kelly Budnik was the Big South Rookie of the Year in 2000 and was one of the top outside hitters in the league. Jessica Jones and Suzanne Aubel formed a talented blocking duo. Senior Leslie Whitfield had earned a starting spot as a libero and would go on to have a phenomenal season.

The coaching staff believed they had brought in a talented recruiting class and had a good group back from the previous season. How they would mesh would determine what kind of year they would have and whether that awful preseason prediction would come true.

Asheville showed right away that it was much improved. Playing at the High Point Invitational to open the season, the Bulldogs buried UNC Wilmington in three sets and pulled out a five-set thriller over Mercer to put Asheville 2-0 on the young season. Torbett's charges finished second in the tourney with a win over High Point and a close five-set loss to Appalachian State.

The Bulldogs soon rattled off six straight wins before a five-set loss at North Carolina A&T. Asheville would find out where it stood in the Big South with a key weekend set of matches against defending BSC champ Liberty and conference rival Radford.

Asheville would roar past Liberty in four sets and then slip past Radford in five sets. The team picked to finish in last place in the league was 3-0 so far and 11-4 overall. In the first month of the season, the Bulldogs had already won more matches than they had in 2001.

The winning continued with clutch victories over ETSU, Elon and High Point plus a road victory at Charleston Southern. More than halfway through the season, the predicted last-place Bulldogs were a perfect 7-0 in league play.

Asheville hit a little lull with a close five-set loss at Coastal Carolina and a three-set loss at Winthrop. But the Bulldogs refused to back down and won nine of their next 10 matches.

The Big South regular-season title would come down to the final home match of the year. Winthrop and Asheville would play in that game and the team that won would win the regular-season title. Not bad for a team picked to finish in last place in the preseason.

But to finish in first it would have to take on a very strong Winthrop squad which was in the process of beginning a dynasty that would see the Eagles win the next five Big South Tournaments and four consecutive regular-season titles. Asheville only had two conference losses but one had been to Winthrop in three sets.

A capacity crowd at Justice Center was on hand to see one of the greatest volleyball matches ever played in the ancient building. Winthrop took the first set 30-24 and appeared confident and ready to take home the regular-season trophy.

But Asheville's blocking took over in the second set and the Bulldogs evened things up with a 30-20 win. The Eagles bounced back to win the third set 30-23 and needed one more set to win the title.

Torbett's club had come too far to let Winthrop celebrate anything on its homecourt. The fourth set went back-and-forth before a couple of key kills from Budnik forced the match to a fifth set as Asheville captured a 31-29 win.

The regular-season title would come down to a fifth set. Winthrop grabbed an early lead but the Bulldogs would simply not let them go away. Sigurdottir produced two straight service aces and a kill to push Asheville ahead. With the crowd screaming, the Bulldogs got kills from Butler and Budnik to push to a 14-10 lead. Winthrop would make one more rally to get to 14-12 but Budnik would end the match and deliver the title to the Bulldogs with a kill off a beautiful pass from Wiles.
Coach Torbett showed the media in attendance that night the chalk board that Asheville had looked at all year. The team would look at it one more time as it headed to a delirious locker room after winning the match.

A little later in the night, the chalk board would be erased. The insulting prediction for a proud Bulldog volleyball program had erased that prediction with a lot of hard work and dedication.

Asheville would finish the season with a 26-8 overall record and would be the most improved team in the nation. Torbett would be named Big South Coach of the Year. Budnik and Sigurdottir were placed on the All-Conference first team. Whitfield would make the second team.

Whitfield would be a microcosm for the Bulldog team. She was a walk-on who hadn't played too much in her career before earning a scholarship as a senior. Leslie would be a key player for the Bulldogs in the back as a libero. All she did that season was lead the nation in digs!!! Leslie was featured in the Sports Illustrated in Faces in the Crowd.

University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics

Fall Flashback - 2002 UNC Asheville Volleyball

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