by Kevin Buczek
WILSON, N.C.-The Barton College women's volleyball team takes a winning league record into a pair of Conference Carolinas road clashes this weekend visiting Limestone College in Gaffney, S.C., on Friday at 7 p.m., and Converse College in Spartanburg, S.C., on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Limestone sports information will be providing Live Stats and Live Video for Friday's match and Converse sports information will be providing Live Video for Saturday's tilt.
Barton volleyball fans can follow the Bulldogs throughout the season on BartonBulldogs.com and via social media including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Barton College Women's Volleyball
The Lady Bulldogs have won two consecutive matches in conference play to move over .500 at 3-2 in league tilts. Barton's last win over rival University of Mount Olive on Tuesday moved the squad to 5-9 overall.
Senior middle blocker Melissa Cochran continues to play well ranking second in the league in hitting percentage (.331), third in blocks per set (0.98) and sixth in kills per set (3.20). Cochran, who has reached double-digit spikes in nine of 14 matches, ranks 70th in NCAA Division II with 4.05 points per set.
Barton – hitting .130 as a team – gets additional offensive support from sophomore Shae Schmidt (2.39 kills per set), sophomore Kaitlyn Micol (2.11), freshman Courtney Wiseman (1.64), senior Jillian Sherman (1.21) and junior Brittany Edwards (1.02). Micol also slips into the top-10 of the league with 0.78 blocks per set.
Freshman setter Riley Bane guides the Lady Bulldogs offense with 8.30 assists per set, which ranks fifth in the conference.
Defensively, senior Amanda Grandy is third in the league with 4.32 digs per set. Bane (2.76), sophomore Alex Ward (2.15) and Wiseman (2.07) all average at least two digs per set as well.
Grandy also leads the Lady Bulldogs and ranks sixth in the league with 20 service aces in 14 matches.
Barton is 2-1 against Limestone under the direction of third year head coach Jeff Lennox including a home-and-away sweep of the Saints in 2013.
The Lady Bulldogs are 3-1 against Converse over that same span with Coach Lennox including a 3-2 non-conference victory against the Valkyries in the Converse Invitational earlier this year. The two teams have played the full five sets in three consecutive matches against each other. Cochran hit .417 with 18 kills in BC's win at Converse on Sept. 15 while Bane notched one of her four double-doubles with 41 assists and 26 digs.
BC – part of the North Division – will be playing Limestone and Converse of the South Division for the only time in league play this season.
Limestone College Women's Volleyball
The Saints are just 4-13 overall but Limestone has started off hot in the league winning three of its first four conference matches. LC (3-1 Conf.) knocked off King University, Lees-McRae College, and Emmanuel College before suffering its first league setback to South Division frontrunner Erskine College.
Limestone will be playing only its third home game of the season. The Saints are 1-1 in the Timken Center.
A pair of freshmen are leading LC offensively with Rycki Ebert producing 3.27 kills per set (fifth in the league) and Darla Svoboda knocking down 2.38 kills per set. The junior trio of Erin Courtenay (2.05), Regan Youngs (1.59) and Judy Slow (1.29) following on the attack.
Youngs was a Third Team All-Conference selection in 2013.
The Saints use multiple setters with freshman Mary Kate Katarzynski (5.62 assists per set), freshman Natalie Tucker (4.29) and junior Elayna Meachum (3.03) sharing the role.
Other statistical leaders for Limestone include junior libero Jessica Onken averaging 3.81 digs per set; senior middle blocker Nikki Eno making 0.70 blocks per set; and Svoboda serving up 0.40 aces per set.
Converse College Women's Volleyball
The Valkyries are on a six-match losing streak to slip to 5-10 overall and begin league play at 0-4. Converse won its first four matches of the season but has since gone 1-10. Converse will host Mount Olive on Friday night before entertaining the Lady Bulldogs on Saturday.
The Valkyries, who are 1-4 at home in Hannah Gym, near the bottom of the conference in both hitting percentage (.119) and kills per set (9.64). However, Converse has been strong defensively ranking in the upper part of the league in blocks (1.63) and digs (13.65).
Junior Katie Butler leads CC with 2.27 kills per set and is followed by sophomores Scottie Kay Auton (1.67) and Samantha Haynes (1.36).
Freshman Krislyn Moore (3.46 assists per set) and junior Jenna Martin (3.12) share the setter position while senior libero Aubrey Crosby leads the conference with 4.40 digs per set.
Auton (0.75 blocks per set) and freshman Candace Clack (0.71) are providing a strong front-row defense.
Butler led Converse with 15 kills in the five-set loss to Barton earlier in the season.
