The 2005 Southern Conference Volleyball Championships is set to commence in Statesboro, GA on Wednesday and the seeds are set for the 23rd installment of the tournament. GSU’s Hanner Fieldhouse is the site of the conference tournament for the third time, and the first time since 1997. This is the first time all teams will participate in the championship.
The College of Charleston garnered the No.1 seed after becoming the first team since 1999 to complete the league slate unscathed. Coming into the tournament, the Cougars have won 19 straight matches and need just one win to tie to the SoCon’s all-time mark of 20 consecutive victories in a season set by the 2001 College of Charleston club.
The Cougars will begin play in the 2005 SoCon Volleyball Championship on Friday, Nov.18 against the winner of the Wofford/ Elon and will be looking for their second consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament when they begin tournament play at 12:30 p.m. CofC, which also captured a SoCon Tournament crown in 2002, will vie to become the first team since Davidson in 1999 and 2000 to win back-to-back tourney titles.
The Cougars are led by 2004 All-Southern Conference performer Kaycie Carr, who currently leads the Southern Conference in assists per game (12.85). Amanda Timmers, who won tournament MVP honors last season, teams with Rebecca Wieters to form one of the league’s most lethal offensive combinations as both rank in the league’s top 10 in kills per game.
Appalachian State enters the tournament as the No. 2 seed after finishing the 2005 regular season with a 21-9 mark, and a14-4 record in league play. The Mountaineers, under the direction of third-year head coach Chad Callihan, provided the College of Charleston with their stiffest challenge of the season, losing a five-game thriller back on Oct. 7. The Mountaineeers are paced by the play of middle blocker Stefanie Panzer who led the Southern Conference in hitting percentage during the regular season, recording a .385 composite percentage on the season.
Appalachian will face off against the winner of the Western Carolina/ UNC Greensboro match at 4:30 p.m. on Friday.
The No.3 seeded Georgia Southern Eagles will begin play on their home floor on Friday night at 7 p.m. against the winner of the Furman/The Citadel match. The Eagles will be looking to return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2003 campaign. Georgia Southern is led by Iulia Porumbescu, who is among the national leaders in kills per game, averaging 5.19 kills per game. The Eagles will attempt to become only the third team to win the tournament crown on their home floor.
Chattanooga enters the contest as the fourth seed and have played well down the stretch, entering the tournament having won five straight. The Lady Mocs are led defensively by freshman Lara Newberry, who leads the Southern Conference in digs averaging 6.08 digs per game on the season. The Lady Mocs will take on the fifth-seeded Davidson Wildcats in a match set for 10 a.m. on Friday.
After starting the season 2-10, Davidson stormed back to win 15 of its next 22 matches to finish the season and garner the No.5 seed and a subsequent first round bye. The Wildcats are led by the play of juniors Liz Williamson and Jenna Dykstra. Williamson, who earned Molten Southern Conference Player of the Week honors in the final week of the season, leads the Wildcats in with 433 kills on the season, and also paces the club with 46 service aces.
Head coach Michelle Young leads an upstart Furman Paladin club into the tournament as the No.6 seed. The Paladins turned in a solid performance down the stretch of the regular season and earned a 3-2 victory over the No. 2 seeded Appalachian State Mountaineers on the final weekend of the regular season. The Paladins are paced by a pair of juniors in Whitney Purser and Ally Hock. Purser leads the club with 408 kills on the season, ranking second in the Southern Conference in that statistical category.
The Paladins open the tournament with a Thursday evening match-up against the 11th seeded Citadel Bulldogs with first serve slated for 7 p.m.
Western Carolina earned the seventh seed after posting a 3-1 victory over UNC Greensboro Spartans on the final day of the regular season. The Catamounts will face those same Spartans in a first round match on Thursday beginning at 12:30 p.m. The Catamounts are led by senior Ellie Talbot, who leads the club with 15 double-doubles on the season.
The Wofford Terriers are the No.8 seed and will participate in the opening match of the Southern Conference Volleyball Championships against the ninth-seeded Elon Phoenix. Wofford will be making just its third appearance in the conference tournament and will be in search of its first win in tournament play.
The ninth-seeded Elon Phoenix put together some solid play in their final two matches of the regular season against Chattanooga and Western Carolina. The Phoenix, who are 0-1 in tournament play all-time, are led by sophomores Emily Lucci and Brittany Westaphal, who have combined a total of 693 kills on the season.
First-year head coach Shawn Garus leads the 10th seeded UNC Greensboro Spartans into action on Thursday afternoon against the Western Carolina Catamounts. The Spartans are a young squad with just two seniors on their roster. Hilary Overby, a junior middle blocker from Spring, TX, averages 3.11 kills and 2.60 digs per game.
The Citadel Bulldogs round out the field as they enter the tournament as the No.11 seed. Head coach Wendy Anderson will rely on senior leaders Marina Daniel and Stefanie Farris for leadership in Statesboro. The Bulldogs will be participating in their first Southern Conference Tournament, opening the tournament Thursday evening against Furman.
Catch all the action of the 2005 Southern Conference Volleyball Championship live on SoCon.TV. For fans not able to make it to the championship, you can view all 10 matches of the tournament for only $5.95. The championship match will broadcasts over the air waves by the Southern Conference Sports Network beginning at 2 p.m. on Sunday with the first serve set for 2 p.m.