Road Warriors

While women’s soccer is at home this weekend for a pivotal two game set, volleyball and men’s soccer are both out of town for conference showdowns of their own. Volleyball travels to South Carolina to face two of the Big South’s best, Winthrop and Coastal Carolina, while men’s soccer heads north to square off against VMI.

For the second straight match, first place in the Big South will be on the line for the Bulldogs (17-5, 6-0) when they battle Winthrop (13-6, 5-1) this evening. The Eagles have won five straight since dropping their conference opener to Liberty in five sets. Winthrop has posted both the highest hitting percentage and the lowest opponents’ hitting percentage in conference play this far. Junior Kaley Viola has been outstanding – she leads the conference in kills, and ranks seventh in hitting percentage and ninth in digs. Senior Kelley Taylor and freshman Baylee Stachan are also among the top ten in hitting, junior Kelsey Hall leads the league in assists, and junior libero Ginnie Talley is fourth in digs.

The Bulldogs will be challenged again on Saturday afternoon by Coastal Carolina. The Chanticleers (10-9, 4-2) are fourth in the Big South and have won two straight, their only conference losses coming against Winthrop and Liberty. The Chanticleer attack is led by juniors Chelsy Kimes (second in the Big South in kills) and Megan Bickford (third in hitting percentage). Senior Jill Nyhof leads the conference in blocks, and senior Megan Pollard ranks third in digs. A strong showing this weekend would give UNC Asheville some much-needed breathing room atop the conference standings.

Men’s soccer will travel to Lexington, Virginia, to face VMI on Saturday morning. The Keydets (2-8-1, 1-1-0) are coming off their first conference victory of the season, a 2-0 home win over Gardner-Webb on Wednesday afternoon. The Bulldogs also collected their first Big South win in their last outing, defeating Radford on Saturday. The Keydets rank near the bottom of the league in most offensive categories, but have been kept in games by junior goalkeeper Brian Sowell, who ranks first in saves per game and third in save percentage. Junior Brian Harding is the leading scorer, with five points on the year. The match gives the Bulldogs a great chance to pick up another conference win on their current four-game away stand.