by Benny Benton
WILSON, N.C. – Barton College women's volleyball will welcome a pair of Conference Carolinas North Division foes to Wilson Gym for Homecoming this weekend. The Lady Bulldogs will host Belmont Abbey College on Friday at 7 p.m., and will entertain Pfeiffer University on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Friday's match will also serve as Dig Pink night. The Lady Bulldogs will wear pink jerseys, and donations will be accepted to support breast cancer awareness efforts. A 50/50 drawing will also be held, with all proceeds supporting the cause.
Barton sports information will provide live stats and video for both matches (Belmont Abbey live stats / video) (Pfeiffer live stats / video).
Barton volleyball fans can follow the Lady Bulldogs all season at www.BartonBulldogs.com and via social media including Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Barton College Women's Volleyball
Since winning a five-set match at rival University of Mount Olive on Oct. 8, the Lady Bulldogs (7-13, 5-5) have dropped three straight matches and nine consecutive sets. Two of those losses came against teams at the top of the North Division standings, including front-runner Lees-McRae College in their most recent outing.
Barton had just 23 kills in the entire match against the Bobcats, with sophomore Shae Schmidt posting a team-high eight. Schmidt also led the Lady Bulldogs in their matches against Belmont Abbey and Pfeiffer earlier this season, collecting nine in a straight-set loss to the Crusaders and 14 in a five-set win over the Falcons.
Senior Melissa Cochran had seven kills and senior libero Amanda Grandy produced 22 digs in the loss to Belmont Abbey. Against Pfeiffer, sophomore Kaitlyn Micol contributed 12 kills and seven blocks, and freshman setter Riley Bane had a double-double of 43 assists and 17 digs.
For the season, Cochran paces the squad with an average of 3.07 kills per set and a .318 attack percentage that ranks fourth in the conference. Schmidt and Micol follow with matching averages of 2.09 kills per frame. Cochran also ranks second in the league in blocks per set at 1.00.
Grandy ranks fourth in the league in digs per set at 4.38 and fifth in the conference in service aces at 0.44, while Bane is averaging 7.94 assists per set, fifth in the league.
As a team, the Lady Bulldogs rank in the middle of the conference pack in most categories. The exceptions: Barton is third in blocks per set (1.75) and 10th in hitting percentage (.121).
Belmont Abbey College Women's Volleyball
The Crusaders (10-13, 7-4) have won eight of their last 10 matches and three straight in Conference Carolinas play to move into a tie with King University for second place in the North Division, one game behind Lees-McRae.
Belmont Abbey, which was just 1-3 in the league when it faced Barton earlier this year, has charged back toward the top of the division standings behind outstanding play from outside hitter Hannah Schellenberg, the 2013 Conference Carolinas Player of the Year.
The junior from Jacksonville, Fla., leads the nation in total kills with 382 and is fourth in kills per set (4.9). She has collected 17 or more kills in eight of the team's last 10 matches and has surpassed 20 on three occasions, including a career-high 28 against Catawba last weekend. Schellenberg is the reigning Conference Carolinas Player of the Week.
Junior classmate and two-time all-conference pick Caitlin Hankins is second on the team with 1.78 kills per set. Sophomore setter Gabby Martinez, also an all-conference honoree last season, sets up the Crusader offense with 6.54 assists per set and leads the squad with 0.41 aces per set. Freshman Julie Newell leads BAC's defensive efforts with 4.39 digs per set, with Schellenberg contributing 3.09 digs per frame.
In Belmont Abbey's Sept. 26 meeting with Barton, Schellenberg produced 17 kills and 10 digs in the straight-set win. The Crusaders drilled 10 service aces, four by Kennedy Haupt, who also had nine digs and five kills.
Pfeiffer University Women's Volleyball
The Falcons continue to search for their first win of the season, having lost all 18 matches this year, 11 of those coming in conference play.
Pfeiffer did win a set off of Belmont Abbey in its last outing, and took Barton to a fifth-set tiebreaker before falling earlier this season.
Senior Kelly Lancellot, an all-conference selection in 2012, leads the team offensively with 2.29 kills per set. Junior Kelsey Blauser averages 1.73 kills per set, followed by freshman Shenelle Charlot with 1.63. Sophomore Haley Denny ranks second in the conference in digs per set with 4.59.
Blauser recorded a match-high 16 kills to pace Pfeiffer in the earlier meeting with the Lady Bulldogs, and Denny collected a match-high 31 digs.
The Falcons will face University of Mount Olive on Friday night before taking on the Lady Bulldogs on Saturday.
