University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Fall Flashback – 1991 Volleyball Championship
09.30.2020 | Women's Volleyball
The 1991 UNC Asheville volleyball team had one goal in mind when it reported to preseason camp in August.
The Bulldogs were determined to win the Big South Conference championship. They felt they had let one get away the previous year.
And they had an extra incentive to win. They would play the Big South Tournament in the friendly confines of Justice Center.
Asheville had surprised the Big South in 1990 by going unbeaten in league play at 7-0 and winning its first ever regular-season championship. The Bulldogs fell in the tournament semifinals to fourth-seeded Radford in four tough sets at Charleston Southern. Radford's celebration, which included taunting of the Bulldogs and Bulldog fans who were at the match, had not been forgotten.
Asheville had the core of its team returning from the previous season and added a big-time player in Elissa Steffen. Elissa had enjoyed a standout career at nearby Tuscola HS and went to Tennessee out of high school. She made the Lady Vols team in the spring but after her freshman year, Elissa decided to come home and play. Steffen would go on to be one of the greatest outside hitters in school history and is a member of the UNC Asheville Athletics Hall of Fame.
Heading up the returnees was junior blocker Ilona Fekete, who had led the nation in blocks in 1990 and was the reigning Big South Player of the Year. Setter Danielle Meyer was back along with junior outside hitter Gina Golkiewicz.
The Bulldogs were hungry to show that the previous season was no fluke. They whipped Western Carolina in three sets to start the season and then stunned defending Southern Conference champion Appalachian State in five sets a week later.
Asheville rolled through the early days of Big South play, including a 3-0 shutout of Radford at Justice Center. That would not be the first time that would happen that season.
The Bulldogs' good start set up a mid-season showdown with Davidson, who was in its final year of Big South play. The Wildcats were a preseason pick to win the Big South despite Asheville returning most of its team from the previous year.
Lisa Rhodes' club easily won the first set before Davison won the second set. Early in the third set, disaster struck when Meyer went down with an ankle injury. The one player the Bulldogs could not afford to lose was the talented sophomore setter.
Junior defensive specialist Amber Mendenhall stepped in and did her best. Asheville fell behind 2-1 after losing the third set. It looked like it would be a frustrating night and an easy Davidson win. But the Bulldogs roared back and shockingly won the fourth set. In the fifth set, the Wildcats surged to a big lead only to see Asheville rally. Davidson would eventually win the match but not before an injured Asheville squad battled to the end.
Meyer would recover quickly and the Bulldogs kept winning. Davidson would lose a conference match at Coastal Carolina so the teams would tie for the regular-season championship. The Wildcats would get the #1 seed and a bye as only seven teams were in the Big South at that time.
Asheville was excited about hosting the tournament and the prospect of winning the championship on its home floor. The Bulldogs led the Big South in attendance as the student body and Asheville community had made the Justice Center a tough place to play.
Rhodes' club would take on seventh-seeded Winthrop in the quarterfinals. The Bulldogs made quick work of the Eagles in three sets in a match that was never in doubt.
The next morning a rematch with Radford awaited Asheville. There would be no taunting from the Highlanders on this day. The only drama was in the first set when Radford led 14-13. But the Bulldogs got two kills from Steffen and a block solo from Fekete to take a 1-0 lead.
Asheville easily won the next two sets to roar into the championship match for the first time in the history of its program.
Another revenge match would be awaiting as Davidson had won its match to get to the finals. The Bulldogs were ready. Each squad won close sets to even the match at 1-1.
In the third set, the match was tied 7-7 when the Bulldogs got rolling. Kills from Steffen and Golkiewicz pushed the Bulldogs to a four-point lead and Asheville closed out the set with a kill from sophomore blocker Jennifer Hutchins.
Asheville was one set away from a championship. The Bulldogs didn't disappoint. Davidson played hard and didn't make it easy but a near sellout crowd gave Asheville a big advantage.
Rhodes' club steadily built the lead and never let Davidson get too close. Finally, a Fekete block would give the Bulldogs the winning point and its first ever Big South Championship.
Ilona Fekete and Gina Golkiewicz would earn all-tournament honors but strangely no Bulldog would earn MVP tournament honors. A flawed tournament voting system allowed two Davidson players to get Co-MVP honors. It didn't make sense then and it still doesn't 30 years later.
Asheville concluded the Big South Tournament with a 25-9 overall record, easily the best in school history. However, the Bulldogs weren't through playing. Two weeks later, Rhodes' club would be selected to the National Invitational Volleyball Championship at Wright State in Dayton, Ohio.
In 1991, the Big South did not have an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. This was the next best thing and Asheville was selected to the prestigious tournament.
The Bulldogs would lose the four matches they played in the tournament but that mattered little. Asheville had made a goal and had accomplished that goal in impressive style.
And this program wasn't through winning championships.
