Volleyball opens the fall season at the Wildcat Classic

2021 FALL VOLLEYBALL SCHEDULE

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The UNC Asheville volleyball team will begin its 2021 fall season on Friday and Saturday at the Wildcat Classic in Davidson, N.C. Asheville will open the Classic by facing Davidson at 7 p.m. on Friday before taking on mountain rival Western Carolina at noon on Saturday. Both matches will have live stats available HERE, and Friday's matchup versus Davidson will be on ESPN+.

Look back at the spring – Due to the ongoing CoVID-19 pandemic, the Bulldog volleyball team played its season last spring instead of last fall. Overall, Asheville went 8-8 during the unique season, with all 16 matches coming against Big South foes.

Preseason Predictions – Earlier this month, the Big South conference unveiled its annual preseason poll. The poll, generated via votes by the league's coaches, had Asheville picked to finish fifth with 64 points. Defending league champion High Point was selected to reclaim the conference title with 119 points and collecting 10 of the 11 first-place votes.

About the returners – Asheville will bring back nine players from last spring's team this fall. Among the group of returning Bulldogs are Peyton McClinton, Grace Volk, and Lexy Cole. McClinton was named to the All-Big South Second Team after pacing all Big South players in both kills (201) and points scored (227) during the spring. Volk returns after serving as the team's primary setter a season ago, and Cole hopes to repeat her production last spring when she paced Asheville in blocks with 51.

Scouting the newcomers – In addition to the nine players returning, the Bulldogs have added five new players to the squad during the offseason. Nina Finderle and Carley Modlin transferred to Asheville after time with Polk State College and Sandhills Community College, respectively, while Amy Tippett, Brandy Kishbaugh, and Elle Thigpen will be making their collegiate volleyball debuts as members of Asheville's freshman class.

Sustained Success – The Bulldogs have been one of the more consistent programs in the Big South in recent history. Since the beginning of the 2018 season, the Bulldogs are one of three schools in the league to post a record of .500 or better in each campaign, with High Point and Winthrop being the other two.

Scouting the Opponents – Western Carolina will look to build upon an 11-8 spring campaign this fall. WCU, which was picked fourth in the Preseason Poll for the Southern Conference, figures to be led this season by Merry Gebel. Gebel, a Preseason All-SoCon selection, is coming off a spring season where she ranked fifth in the conference with 260 kills (3.82 K/S) and ninth in digs per set, checking in 3.54.

Davidson, who will be hosting this weekend's matches, went 2-11 during the unique spring season. A player to watch for the Wildcats this weekend is libero Bella Brady. As a freshman, Brady finished fourth in the Atlantic 10 in the spring averaging 4.60 digs per set.

Series Rewind vs. Opponents – Asheville has quite a bit of familiarity with its opponents this weekend. WCU and Asheville have met 42 times, with the Bulldogs coming out on top 24 of those. Furthermore, Asheville has posted a 5-2 record against the Catamounts in neutral site matches like the one the two teams will compete in on Friday.

Like in the Western Carolina series, the Bulldogs hold the edge all-time, winning 10 of the 19 meetings. The Wildcats have a slight advantage in matches on their home court, winning three of the five matchups.

Volleyball opens the fall season at the Wildcat Classic

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Players Mentioned

Lexy Cole

Nina Finderle

Brandy Kishbaugh

Peyton McClinton

Carley Modlin

Elle Thigpen

Amy Tippett

Grace Volk

University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics