Question and Answer with Freshman Libero Melissa Harvey as Camels Prepare for Three Matches in Three Days

BUIES CREEK, N.C.—Following a eight-day break, the Campbell volleyball returns to the court with three matches in three days this weekend. The Camels (10-13, 2-4 A-Sun) open up play Thursday evening at Savannah State (0-18) at 6:00 pm in a non-conference match.
Campbell then heads down I-95 to Jacksonville, Fla. for a pair of conference matches. The first stop in the River City is 7:30 date with Jacksonville (11-11, 3-2) Friday night. The Camels wrap up the road trip with a match at North Florida (13-13, 4-1) on Saturday afternoon at 3:00 pm.
Currently the Camels are in position for the sixth and final spot in the Atlantic Sun Tournament one game ahead of Mercer, who beat Campbell earlier this year. Gardner-Webb sits in fifth place just one game ahead of the Camels with the two teams meeting in Carter Gym on November 4. Mercer still has Kennesaw State (0-7), Stetson (0-6) and ETSU (7-0) remaining on their schedule, while Campbell and Gardner-Webb have identical conference slates remaining.
Perhaps one of the less-acknowledged, but most-involved players on this year's squad is freshman libero Melissa Harvey. Averaging a team-leading 4.73 digs per game, Harvey is who some fans might recognize as "the girl who wears the different colored shirt."
Harvey took a few minutes before the road trip to discuss her time at Campbell thus far and just why she wears that different colored jersey.

Question: When did you start playing volleyball?
Harvey: I started playing in 7th grade.

Question: What other colleges did you consider?
Harvey: I was considering Tufts University, University of South Carolina Upstate, and also some Division III schools back home in Illinois.

Question: What attracted you to Campbell?
Harvey: What attracted me to Campbell the most was the friendliness of everyone here. And I really enjoyed the girls when I came out on my visit.

Question: How do you like it here so far?
Harvey: I like it here so far. Everyone is really nice and the teachers are very helpful. It's everything I expected it to be.

Question: What are some of the biggest differences between Illinois and Buies Creek?
Harvey: Well, first of all, Buies Creek is a lot smaller than my town in Illinois. But it's nice because everyone knows everything that's going on here. The only thing is it doesn't take 15 minutes to get to Walmart in Illinois and there's a lot more to choose from. The weather is different too... it has already snowed back home.

Question: Do you have a "most memorable" experience in volleyball?
Harvey: Yes, the most memorable moments in my volleyball career would have to be playing in the state championship game two years in a row with an almost undefeated season.

Question: What are your individual goals for the rest of the season?
Harvey: To keep improving on my defense and serving. And to just have fun.

Question: What about the team's goals?
Harvey: As a team we want to make it to the conference tournament and win the rest of our matches.

Question: Can you briefly explain what a "libero" is, and why you feel it is important?
Harvey: A libero is a type of defensive specialist, who just goes in for a player in the back row. The only thing different about a libero is that she can go in and out of the back row at any time, only sitting out one point, and can go in for any player. The libero wears a different colored jersey because she doesn't count for a team substitution and is easy to spot. The libero is very important because she reduces the substitutions and allows for better competition because of better defense.

Question: What is your favorite sport or sports team aside from volleyball?
Harvey: Aside from volleyball I like most sports. My favorites are baseball and hockey though. And my favorite sports teams would have to be all the Chicago teams.

Question: What is your favorite part about playing volleyball at Campbell?
Harvey: My favorite part about playing volleyball at Campbell is my teammates and coaches. They are so much fun to be around and are great people.

Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Contact: Adam Prendergast

Campbell Nears School Records with Dominating 3-0 Victory over Winston-Salem State

Box Score

BUIES CREEK, N.C.—Rachel Templin and Femi Alabi each had 11 kills and hit a combined .724 as Campbell defeated Winston-Salem State 3-0 (30-21, 30-14, 30-7) Tuesday night in non-conference volleyball action in Carter Gym.
The Camels improve to 10-12 on the season and have won five of their last six non-conference matches. Campbell has equaled its win total from last season and still has at least seven matches remaining on the schedule. Winston-Salem State falls to 2-22 on the season.
Templin hit for the second-best percentage in school history with a .733 mark after not committing an error with her 11 kills. Alabi tied for third in Campbell history with her .714 committing just one error in her 14 attempts.
Ashley Weers returned to form behind the service line with six service aces. The freshman was ranked sixth in the nation two weeks ago but has slipped to 30^th in the latest rankings released by the NCAA this afternoon.
The Camels entered ranked 30^th as a team in aces with 2.16 per game and improved that number with 17 in the match. The total falls just one short of the third most in school history.
Campbell hit .493 as a team committing just 10 attack errors with 44 kills on 69 attempts, while holding the Rams to a -.031 percentage forcing 19 errors while allowing just 17 kills. It is the second-highest attack percentage in Campbell history trailing just a .561 clip the Camels put up against UNC Pembroke in 1998.
Ciera Simpson led Winston-Salem State with five kills and Stephanie Douthit had five digs to pace the Rams.
Weers added eight kills and seven digs to go along with her six aces and Sarah Dillon led the Camels with 21 assists. Tabitha Turner posted six kills and Brittany Rusin hit .500 with five kills and just one error.
The Camels are off until October 26 when they play three matches in three days. They open the stretch at Savannah State on Thursday night before a pair of Atlantic Sun matches at Jacksonville and North Florida.

Saturday, October 14, 2006
Contact: Adam Prendergast

Campbell Falls 3-0 at League-Leading Belmont

Box Score

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Belmont volleyball team garnered their 17^th win of the season and improved the conference record to 5-0 as they swept Campbell Saturday 30-22, 30-23, and 30-20 at the Curb Event Center on the Belmont campus. It also marked the 15th straight regular season home conference win for the Bruins.
The Camels fall to 9-13 overall and 2-4 in the Atlantic Sun, while the Bruins improve to 17-3 overall.
Rachel Templin led the Camels with 13 kills and committed just two errors for a .423 attack percentage. Melissa Harvey led CU defensively with 11 digs and Sarah Dillon had 15 assists to pace Campbell.
Game one saw both teams start out even, trading points, until Belmont went on a 10-2 run to take a 12-4 lead on solid serving by sophomore Ashley Collier and senior Katie Tobiasz. Both teams traded points again until two kills by Tobiasz stretched the lead to 20-10. The Camels would get no closer than seven and BU cruised to the 30-22 win.
In game two, the match started the same as game one as both teams traded points early. BU would go on an 8-2 run to stretch the lead to 10-4. An 8-5 run by the Camels cut the Bruin lead to three at 15-12, but the Bruins rallied and scored 11 of the next 17 points to increase the lead to 26-18 and then went on to win 30-23.
Game three was a back and forth affair for the first 18 points, featuring six ties and two lead changes. The Bruins increased their lead to three on four different occasions, the last being at 18-15. Campbell made a run of their own and cut the lead to 18-17, but they would no get closer as Belmont won the next seven points to take the match.
Sophomore Emily Cahill led the Bruins with a .636 hitting percentage, while senior Erin Janson led the team in kills with 12. Sophomore Cat Mundy also added 11 kills in the victory.
Campbell returns home Tuesday night hosting Winston-Salem State for a non-conference battle at 7:00 pm in Carter Gym.

Belmont Sports Information Contributed to this Story