Tiger Volleyball

UWA Volleyball Opens 2008 GSC Tournament Against Harding On Friday

LIVINGSTON, Ala. – For the second consecutive season, the University of West Alabama volleyball team will compete for a conference championship this weekend at the 2008 Gulf South Conference Volleyball Tournament in Pensacola, Fla. The Tigers finished 7-5 in the GSC East to claim the third seed from the division and will face West No. 2 Harding in the opening round at 5 p.m. on Friday.

With this season’s appearance in the eight-team field, it marks the first time since 2002 that UWA earned a spot in the tournament in back-to-back seasons. Last season, the Red and White dropped an opening round match to Henderson State. This year’s appearance is UWA’s 18^th all time in the event and the fifth time since the league went to the eight-team format in 1996. The Tigers advanced to the 1991 and 1992 GSC Championship match but fell to former in-state GSC foe Jacksonville State both times.

UWA finished the regular season with a 22-10 mark overall and is currently riding a four-match winning streak heading into the tournament. The win streak dates back to the Tigers’ win over NCAA Division I foe Alabama A&M on Oct. 31. UWA clinched its berth to the tournament with a win over Alabama in Huntsville and closed out the GSC slate with a convincing win at West Georgia last Friday. A home win over Martin Methodist sandwiched between the two GSC matches, marked the final Pruitt Hall appearance for the three seniors on the squad – Teresa Clements, Allison Nail and Jacquie Swan.

Friday’s meeting with Harding will be the second one of the season between the Tigers and Lady Bisons. UWA knocked off the pre-season GSC West favorite, 3-0, at the UAH Invitational on Sept. 6. HU leads the all time series between the two schools with a 5-2 advantage.

The Tigers are second in the GSC in hitting percentage (.263) and first in the conference in assists (12.57). They are led by a pair of stellar outside hitters in Allison Nail and Ana Gabriela Pedrosa, who combine for nearly seven kills per set. Freshman setter Alexis McHale continues to lead the GSC in assists with 1,318 assists. The HU tilt will be a battle of the top two setters in the league with HU’s Leah Tepe ranking second in the league in the statistical category.

The GSC Champion, who receives the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, has come from the East Division in 11 of the past 12 seasons. North Alabama has claimed ten of those titles while West Georgia claimed last season’s title. HU won the 2003 edition of the GSC Championship.

The 2008 GSC Volleyball Tournament will be available to fans world wide through Penn Atlantic, an audio and video streaming company through a partnership with the GSC. All matches will be available on the company’s web site – www.pennatlantic.com.

A link to Penn Atlantic will be provided on UWA’s Athletic web site at – http://athletics.uwa.edu. All matches will feature live streaming video via internet webcast. The matches can be accessed at www.pennatlantic.com. From the main page, click on the “Live Sports” tab, and then select “Volleyball” from the drop down menu on the left. Upon arrival at the volleyball page, scroll down to find the GSC Tournament and the match(es) of your choice. Each match will be available via pay-per-view, with a single match price of $4.95.

Live stats of the 2008 edition of the conference volleyball tournament will be provided on the official athletic web site of UWF – www.goargos.com.