by Kevin Buczek
WILSON, N.C.-The Barton College women's volleyball program will host the two programs sitting just ahead of the Lady Bulldogs in the Conference Carolinas North Division standings this weekend. BC first entertains King University on Friday at 7 p.m., before battling Lees-McRae College on Saturday at 2 p.m.
BC sports information will be providing live stats and live video for both matches and individual links can be accessed by visiting www.BartonBulldogs.com. Barton fans can follow the Lady Bulldogs this weekend and throughout the season via social media sites including Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Barton College Women's Volleyball
The Lady Bulldogs ended a four-match skid with a straight-set victory over Pfeiffer University last Saturday. Barton is 8-14 overall and .500 in the league at 6-6.
BC is two games behind both the Tornado and Bobcats, who have matching 8-4 league ledgers, in fourth place with four conference matches left to the season. The Lady Bulldogs will need to catch either KU or LMC in the North Division to most likely avoid a quarterfinals match at Erskine College (leads the South Division with the only undefeated conference record of 12-0) in the Conference Carolinas Tournament.
Senior middle blocker Melissa Cochran maintains her strong conference rankings to pace the Lady Bulldogs. The All-Conference honoree is tied for second in the league with 1.01 blocks per set; fourth with a .321 hitting percentage and ninth with 3.08 kills per set.
The sophomore hitting combination of Shae Schmidt (2.23 kills/set) and Kaitlyn Micol (2.21) also average at least two kills per set on the season.
Other statistical leaders for the Royal Blue and White includes senior libero Amanda Grandy with 4.35 digs per set (4th in the league) and 0.45 aces per set (4th) and freshman setter Riley Bane supplying 8.01 assists per set (4th).
Barton lost to both King and Lees-McRae on the road two weekends ago by matching 3-0 scores.
In the 25-18, 25-13 and 25-15 loss to King in Bristol, Tenn., the Lady Bulldogs had a balanced attack with Cochran (8 kills), Micol (7) and senior Catherine Barber (6) totaling 21 combined spikes. However, the Tornado hit .333 to sweep the match.
Barton lost to the Bobcats a day later in Banner Elk, N.C., by a score of 25-17, 25-15 and 25-18. Schmidt and Cochran tallied eight and seven kills, respectively, but the Bulldogs had just as many hitting errors (23) as total kills (23) for a zero hitting percentage.
King University Women's Volleyball
The defending Conference Carolinas regular season co-champions are coming off a non-conference split against UNC Pembroke (W, 3-0) and Armstrong State University (L, 3-0) on Wednesday. The Tornado, who are 16-10 overall, will carry a three-match league win streak into Friday's contest in the Dog House. KU is tied with LMC just a half game behind Belmont Abbey College (9-4 league record) for the North Division lead.
The Tornado return four of their six All-Conference honorees from their championship squad including first team selections Summer Kremer and Olivia Underwood along with second team honorees Grace Underwood and senior Payton Tipton.
Kremer is second in the league with 4.63 kills per set; Olivia Underwood is the conference's top setter statistically with 10.70 assists per set; Grace Underwood features a .295 hitting percentage; and Tipton – the league's reigning Defensive Player of the Year – anchors King's back line. Tipton (3.88) and Kremer (3.23) both average over three digs per set.
The Tornado rank second in the league with a .241 hitting percentage and 15.95 digs per set.
In the first meeting, Kremer (13 kills, .314 hitting percentage), Sarah Collins (8, .429), Lauren Willoughby (5, .400), Jordan Baty (5, .364) and Grace Underwood (5, .273) all contributed to King's hot-hitting attack in the 3-0 victory over Barton.
Lees-McRae College Women's Volleyball
The Bobcats are attempting to go from last place in 2013 to first place in 2014. Lees-McRae is bouncing back from a winless 0-18 league record last season by positing itself just a half game out of first place in the North Division this season with a 8-4 league mark.
LMC is 15-8 overall and will visit University of Mount Olive on Friday night before entering the Dog House on Saturday.
The Bobcats have improved drastically with the key addition of five very impactful players including junior transfers Jariliz Cotte and Allyson Schillinger along with the freshmen trio of Ana Rodriguez, Siarra Walker and Madison Martin.
Cotte leads the Bobcats with 3.63 kills per set and 0.66 aces per set; Schillinger serves as their primary setter and averages 7.49 assists per set; Martin contributes 3.31 digs per set on the defensive end; Walker tops the team with 0.76 blocks per set; and Rodriguez chips in 0.34 aces per set for a dangerous service team.
Jordan Banta and Avalon Liscio are LMC's top returners and they rank second and third on the team with 2.43 and 2.22 kills per set, correspondingly.
Liscio paced the Bobcats to the 3-0 win over Barton earlier in October with 12 kills. Banta and Cotte followed with nine spikes apiece for a LMC squad that hit .242.
