Niners Set for Their First-Ever Atlantic 10 Volleyball Tournament
Nov. 17, 2005
Kingston, R.I. - The 49ers volleyball team left Charlotte on Thursday morning to travel here for their first-ever Atlantic 10 Volleyball Championship, hosted by the University of Rhode Island at Keaney Gymnasium this weekend.
The fourth-seeded Niners (8-5 A-10, 17-15 overall) will take on No. 1 Dayton (12-1 A-10, 21-9 overall) in the first match (4:30 p.m.) on Friday afternoon. That match will be followed by No. 3 Xavier against No. 2 Temple.
The championship match is set for 7:00 p.m. on Saturday evening.
Fans can follow the tournament action with GameTracker by surfing to Dayton's A-10 Tournament page (click here).
MATCH PREVIEW
Charlotte finished second in the Atlantic 10's East Division this season, exactly where the coaches predicted the team to end up in the preseason poll. The Niners earned the fourth seed for the tournament, their best conference tournament positioning since entering the 2002 Conference USA Championship in the sixth spot.
The 49ers were the only A-10 team to defeat the two-time defending champion Flyers this season, scoring a 3-2 win at Dayton in the first league match back on September 23. That was the first time these teams had ever met.
Since that point, though, the Flyers have gone on a 16-match unbeaten streak, including 12 straight conference wins.
"We've beaten two of the other three teams at the tournament so that's a positive," said Charlotte head coach Lisa Marston when the tournament pairings were announced last week. "The matchup vs. Dayton: we beat them, but that was the first match of the year. Both teams have changed a lot since then. Dayton's playing just so well."
Dayton's attack is led by Faye Barhorst, a 2004 honorable mention All-America and 2005 A-10 Player of the Year. Nicole Schott was the A-10's Setter of the Year for Coach of the Year Tom Horsmon. Sophomores Robynne Green and Adrienne Green earned Second Team and Honorable Mention honors while Kortney Norris was named to the All-Rookie Team.
Charlotte brings to the table a pair of first-team all-conference award winners in Lisa Newell and Alma Arroyo, along with second-teamer Eden Ramos and all-rookie selection Carly Romberg. You can add to that mix two more potent hitters in senior Abbey Szlanfucht (22 times over 10 kills and six 20+ kill matches) and junior Jessica Oldenburg (among the league leaders in hitting percentage).
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