Liberty Ready for Weekend at Wake Forest
9/17/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Live Stats for Liberty-Appalachian State match
Live Stats for Liberty-Duke match
Live Stats for Liberty-Wake Forest match
With just one week remaining until the start of Big South Conference play, the Liberty volleyball team will travel to Winston-Salem, N.C., for the Black & Gold Challenge. The Lady Flames' fourth and final early-season tournament will be hosted by Wake Forest, Friday and Saturday at Reynolds Gym.
Liberty will open the two-day event with a match versus Appalachian State, Friday at 4:30 p.m. The 4-5 Lady Flames are then scheduled to meet a pair of ACC opponents on Saturday. Liberty's day will begin with a 10 a.m. contest against Duke, before the Lady Flames return to battle the host Demon Deacons at 7 p.m.
Black & Gold Challenge Schedule
Winston-Salem, N.C. (Reynolds Gym)
Friday, Sept. 18
4:30 p.m. – Appalachian State (3-7, 0-0 Southern) vs. Liberty (4-5, 0-0 Big South)
7 p.m. – Duke (8-2, 0-0 ACC) at Wake Forest (0-9, 0-0 ACC)
Saturday, Sept. 19
10 a.m. – Duke vs. Liberty
12:30 p.m. – Appalachian State at Wake Forest
4:30 p.m. – Appalachian State vs. Duke
7 p.m. – Liberty at Wake Forest
How to Follow the Lady Flames
Live stats for all three of the Lady Flames' contests at the Black & Gold Challenge will be available, courtesy of the Wake Forest Office of Athletic Media Relations. Links are available at the top of this release, as well as on the Liberty volleyball schedule/results page.
A Look at Liberty
The Liberty Lady Flames, coached by Shane Pinder (88-82, six seasons), went 1-2 versus a trio of formidable opponents at last weekend's Cardinal Classic in Louisville, Ky. Liberty dropped a 3-0 decision to undefeated Toledo, edged defending Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) champion Tennessee Tech, 3-2, and then fell to preseason BIG EAST favorite Louisville, 3-1.
For the third consecutive weekend, senior setter Kallie Corbin was voted to the all-tournament team, after pacing the Lady Flames in assists (116) and attack percentage (.273). This time, she was joined by junior outside hitter Nicki Scripko on the squad. Scripko's weekend in Louisville included a team-high 58 kills, including a pair of 20-kill outings.
Senior middle blocker Chelaine McCarty shared the team lead in both service aces (4) and blocks (9). Sophomore libero/defensive specialist Kelly Haseman also served up four aces, while coming up with a team-leading 41 digs. Meanwhile, freshman outside hitter Hannah Anderson, filling in for the injured Karyl Bacon, also had a hand in nine blocks.
Tearin' it Up in the Tar Heel State
Liberty is making its first trip to North Carolina this season, and that surely makes Scripko happy. The Fayetteville, N.C., native has flourished when playing in the Tar Heel State during her first two seasons as a Lady Flame. Here are a few of Scripko's notable North Carolina efforts:
Sept. 28, 2007 – Posted a season-high 19 kills and a season-high 16 digs in Liberty's 3-1 win at High Point (High Point, N.C.).
Nov. 30, 2007 – Led the Lady Flames with 18 kills versus No. 10 California, in the first round of the NCAA Division I Tournament at Duke (Durham, N.C.).
Nov. 11, 2008 – Just missed her first career triple-double, tallying 12 kills, nine assists and 17 digs in a 3-0 sweep at High Point (High Point, N.C.).
Nov. 23, 2008 – Contributed 11 kills, eight assists and seven digs to Liberty's 3-1 victory over Coastal Carolina in the Big South Championship title match at UNC Asheville (Asheville, N.C.).
Extra Motivation
Redshirt junior middle blocker Kirstyn Sanders enjoyed the most productive match of her career, Sept. 12 versus Tennessee Tech. She put down a career-high 10 kills versus the Golden Eagles, helping spark the Lady Flames to a 3-2 victory. The match carried a bit of added significance for Sanders, whose older sister Alysson played for Tennessee Tech's OVC championship team last season.
Aces are Wild
Liberty has served for at least one ace in 123 consecutive matches. The streak started Oct. 7, 2005 at Charleston Southern, before any of the current Lady Flames players were on the roster. McCarty leads the team with 11 aces this season.
Conference Leaders
Through the first three weeks of the 2009 season, Liberty leads the Big South Conference with 12.06 assists per set. The Lady Flames also sit second in both kills (12.91 kps) and blocks (1.72 bps).
Individually, Scripko continues to pace the Big South with 4.47 kills per set, while Corbin's 9.84 assists per set rank a close second behind Presbyterian's Kilee Ruppe. McCarty, the 2008 Big South leader in attack percentage, currently sits third in the conference at .314. Meanwhile, Haseman ranks third in digs, with 3.82 dps.
No. 13 Ranked No. 13
Scripko is not only the Big South leader in kills, but the junior is ranked among the nation's top 25 players in a pair of statistical categories. She currently sits No. 13 in kills (4.47 kps) and No. 21 in points (4.88 pps).
The Big South Beat
After a 0-4 start, the Winthrop Eagles have been the Big South Conference's hottest team in recent weeks. Coach Sally Polhamus' squad has been victorious five of its last six matches, evening its record at 5-5. Winthrop has excelled in home matches, winning all four of its contests at the Winthrop Coliseum. The Eagles will play three more home matches this weekend, as they meet Davidson, Georgia Southern and James Madison in the Wingate Inn Classic.
Two Eagles who have starred during the team's recent run of success are junior outside hitter Kaley Viola and freshman middle blocker Baylee Strachan. Viola was voted MVP of the Hilton Garden Inn Invitational, while Strachan won the first Big South Freshman of the Week honor of her young career.
Meanwhile, a pair of UNC Asheville seniors—middle blocker Lauren Ficker and libero Raquel Miotto—repeated as Big South Player of the Week and Big South Defensive Player of the Week, respectively. Ficker leads the conference with a .342 attack percentage, while Miotto broke the Big South all-time digs record last week, as her career total reached 2,188.
Scouting Reports
Appalachian State
The 3-7 Appalachian State Mountaineers of the Southern Conference are coached by Matt Ginipro, who is 29-46 in his third season at the helm. Appalachian State is facing a Big South opponent for the second straight weekend, after dropping a 3-2 contest at Winthrop on Sept. 11.
Liberty has already faced two other Southern Conference North Division foes this season, going 1-1. The Lady Flames opened the year with a 3-0 sweep of UNC Greensboro on Aug. 28 and then fell to Elon, 3-1, in the championship match of the Liberty Invitational presented by Pepsi on Sept. 5.
Maja Jechorek, a native of Poland, made the all-tournament team at Winthrop's Hilton Garden Inn Invitational last weekend and paces the Mountaineers with 110 kills. Junior middle blocker Caroline Sedon leads the conference with 50 blocks.
Appalachian State is 4-1 all-time versus the Lady Flames. The teams' most recent meeting, on Sept. 8, 2006 at the Virginia Tech Hokie Invite, ended in a 3-0 Mountaineer victory. Two players who both appeared in that match and will suit up this Friday include Appalachian State libero Cassie Engelgau and Liberty's Corbin. Engelgau had a match-high 14 digs for the Mountaineers, while Corbin tallied 25 assists and eight digs for the Lady Flames.
Duke
The ACC's Duke Blue Devils have opened the 2009 season with an 8-2 record and are listed among the "Others Receiving Votes" section of the AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25 poll. The Blue Devils are coached by Jolene Nagel, who is 222-101 in her 11th season at Duke and 425-241 in 22 overall years as a collegiate head coach.
The Blue Devils had won six consecutive matches, before losing a 3-0 match to No. 1 Penn State on Sept. 12 at the Duke Invitational. Junior middle blocker Becci Burling and sophomore setter Kellie Catanach were both voted to the all-tournament team.
Duke will begin the quest for its 10th ACC volleyball title Friday evening versus Wake Forest. The Blue Devils and Demon Deacons will be Liberty's second and third ACC foes this season. Liberty was defeated by Virginia Tech, 3-0, on Aug. 29.
Duke has won both previous meetings with Liberty, including a 3-0 sweep in the squads' last matchup, Sept. 2, 2000 at the South Carolina Invitational.
Wake Forest
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons are still in search of their first win, after opening the season 0-9. The team is coached by Heather Kahl Holmes, who is 58-76 in five seasons at Wake Forest.
Like Appalachian State, the Demon Deacons will be facing a Big South opponent for the second consecutive weekend. Wake Forest's third and final match at last weekend's Bash in the ‘Boro saw Coastal Carolina defeat the Demon Deacons in four sets.
Several young players are playing key roles in the Wake Forest lineup, led by freshman Andrea Beck. The hometown product leads her squad in both kills (72) and hitting percentage (.251). Meanwhile, sophomore Carlin Salmon is Wake Forest's blocks leader, with 32 rejections.
Wake Forest is 3-0 all-time versus the Lady Flames, but Liberty nearly picked up its first win over the Demon Deacons, Oct. 8, 2002 at Wake Forest. Led by Erin McKeown's team-high 16 kills and 12 digs, the Lady Flames won the first two sets. However, the Demon Deacons roared back to claim the final three sets, paced by Morgan Havig's 19 kills and 12 blocks.
