BUIES
CREEK, N.C.-As the 2007 volleyball season comes to a close,
Campbell sets to make a push down the stretch, ending its home
schedule this weekend with Atlantic Sun foes Lipscomb (15-9, 6-3)
on Friday and Belmont (18-7, 7-2) on Saturday.
Although
they hold a 9-17 (2-7 A-Sun) mark on the year, the Fighting Camels
have enjoyed the confines of Carter Gym of late, as some of the
team's key players have performed well.
Over
the last four matches at home, the Camels have gone 3-1, with the
only loss coming in a contest the squad played without junior Femi
Alabi, one of its most experienced weapons.
The
middle blocker has accumulated 131 kills in her last ten
appearances, with eight solo blocks and 29 block assists for the
Fighting Camels.
Another
leader on the court is sophomore libero Melissa Harvey, who has
amassed 22 aces over the last five home contests. Over that same
span, the
Crystal Lake, Ill. native has grabbed 100 digs, leading the
team.
Freshmen
have proved essential for the Camels as well, with all seven
receiving regular playing time.
Ennis,
a converted setter, tallied 94 helpers last week in two matches,
and is averaging nearly 11 per game over her last five contests.
The Camels have enjoyed success when the Fayetteville native plays
well, going 3-0 when she records a double-double, most recently in
last weekend's five-game thriller against USC Upstate.
As
CU's leading outside hitter, Emily Werner, another freshman, has
been producing offensively, recording 17 kills on 37 attempts with
only five errors (.324 percentage) in a loss at East Tennessee
State nearly two weeks ago.
Up
against Lipscomb and Belmont, the Camels will need to stay hot, as
both squads have enjoyed successful 2007 campaigns thus
far.
The
names of Belmont's Colleen Nilson and Lipscomb's Ann Mullins even
appear frequently in the A-Sun record book. Each added another
record to their resumes as Nilson recently became the conference's
career assist record holder and Mullins broke the career digs
record on Tuesday against Nilson and Belmont.
Mullins,
a senior from Nashville, Tenn., broke the digs record of 1,843,
established last season by Mercer's Liz Kane, while Nilson
established the assists record on October 16 against
UT-Martin.
In
addition to their career marks, both Mullins and Nilson own the
single-season record for their respective stats. Mullins recorded
689 digs in 2006 and Nilson accrued 1,679 assists in 2005. They
also both own the highest single-season and conference-season
averages for assists and digs.
Friday
night, the Camels will face off against Mullins and the Lady
Bisons, set for a 7 p.m. start. Junior outside hitter Sarah Snider
paces the Lipscomb offense, averaging a league leading 4.99 kills
per game on the season.
Belmont
will enter Saturday's 2 p.m. contest after facing Gardner-Webb, but
currently holds a four match win streak behind Nilson, who sets the
ball to the junior duo of outside hitter Cat Mundy (4.73 kills per
game) and middle hitter Jaye Schuler (3.05 kills per
game).
After
concluding their home schedule on Saturday, the Fighting Camels
will move into their final week of the season, taking on North
Carolina A&T on Nov. 6 and Winston-Salem State two days later.
CU has faced both squads already this year in Buies Creek, downing
each in three games.