October 25, 2011

UNCG (13-13, 5-5 SoCon) at Appalachian State (16-8, 8-2 SoCon), Oct. 28, 7 p.m.

Livestats: UNCGSpartans.com
Video: GoASU.com (subscription required)

UNCG at Western Carolina (10-16, 5-5 SoCon), Oct. 30, 3 p.m.

Livestats: UNCGSpartans.com
Video: CatamountSports.com (subscription required)

Storylines:

- UNCG will wrap up its four-match road swing this weekend with two more matches against North Division foes. The Spartans will play at Appalachian State on Friday night at 7 p.m. before traveling to Western Carolina for a 3 p.m. contest on Sunday to wrap up the weekend.

- Last weekend, UNCG maintained its .500 record as it split a pair of road matches. On Friday, the Spartans fell to South-Division leader Furman, 3-0, in their only matchup this season. UNCG bounced back on Saturday and scored a 3-1 win over Wofford to move to 5-5 in the SoCon.

- Appalachian State enters Friday's match having won six of its last seven matches and in a tie for first place in the North Division. The Mountaineers are 16-8 overall this year and 8-2 in the SoCon. Western Carolina comes into the weekend with a 10-16 record overall and 5-5 in the SoCon. The Mountaineers are currently tied for the North Division lead with Samford, while the Spartans and Catamounts are tied for third place in the league.

- Sophomore libero Kellie Orewiler has passed the 30-dig mark in two matches this season. She had 32 digs in the four-set win over Navy on Sept. 4 and posted 31 digs in the losing effort against Chattanooga on Oct. 8. Orewiler is just one of 23 players in the nation who has had 30 digs or more in two or more matches this season and the only Southern Conference player to accomplish this feat.

- Some of the Spartans have shown up in the top-10 in the numerous statistical categories in the SoCon this season. Kellie Orewiler currently ranks fifth in the league with a 4.63 digs/set average and is also third in the SoCon with 36 service aces. Teammate Morgan Freeman is now 10^th in the league in service aces with 26. Ariel Newman has also cracked the top-10 in kills per set as she is averaging 3.13, which is seventh in the conference, and Karrian Chambers is ninth this week with a 3.02 kills/set average.

- On Oct. 21-22, UNCG hosted Davidson and Georgia Southern for Fight Like a Spartan weekend, which helped raised awareness for breast cancer. On Friday night, the Spartans swept Davidson in dramatic fashion as they came from behind 20-9 in the final set to win. UNCG was able to defeat reigning SoCon Tournament Champion Georgia Southern on Saturday, 3-2, to move back to .500 on the season. During the week, UNCG raised $1,192 for the Cone Health Mammography Scholarship at The Women's Hospital of Greensboro.

- The Spartans made their longest road trip of the season to face Samford and Chattanooga on Oct. 7-8. The Spartans fell to the Bulldogs on Friday night, 3-0, and then lost a heartbreaking 3-2 match to the Mocs on Saturday evening.

- On Sept. 26, senior captain Ariel Newman was named the SoCon Offensive Player of the Week. In the three matches the previous week, Newman averaged 4.11 kills per set and had a .390 hitting percentage. Against Elon, Newman posted a match-high 21 kills and added 15 digs for a double-double.

- Three weekends ago, UNCG hosted Elon for its Southern Conference opener and defeated the Phoenix, 3-2. The Spartans opened up the early 2-0 lead in the match, but Elon came back to tie it at two before UNCG won the final set, 15-7. UNCG then hit the road last Sunday to face The Citadel and swept the Bulldogs, 3-0.

- On Sept. 16-17, UNCG hosted its second tournament this fall as Memphis, Radford and Howard came to town for the Spartan Spiketacular. The Spartans fell to Memphis on Friday night, but bounced back to defeat Howard, 3-1, before sweeping Radford later in the day.

- At the conclusion of the Spartan Spiketacular, sophomore Kellie Orewiler was named the Libero of the Tournament. Ari Lysacek and Karrian Chambers both earned All-Tournament Team honors, as well.

- On Sept. 3-4, UNCG traveled up to Fairfax, Va. for the Patriot Invitational on the campus of George Mason. The Spartans defeated High Point, 3-1, last Saturday before falling to host George Mason in the nightcap, 3-1. On Sunday, UNCG took down Navy, 3-1. Ariel Newman was named to the All-Tournament team for her efforts over the weekend.

- The first weekend of the season, the Spartans went 1-3 as they hosted the first annual UNCG Invitational. On Friday, UNCG fell to Coastal Carolina, 3-1, in its season opener and then fell to East Tennessee State by the same score later in the evening. On Saturday, the Spartans came out and cruised to a 3-0 win over cross-town rival North Carolina A&T, but fell to tournament champion Evansville, 3-0, in the nightcap.

- Junior Ari Lysacek was named to the All-Tournament Team for her efforts at the UNCG Invitational. Lysacek did a little bit of everything over the weekend as she recorded 59 assists, 25 kills and 19 digs in her three matches. Against Evansville, Lysacek nearly recorded a triple-double as she had 16 assists, nine kills and eight digs.

- In 2010, UNCG went 22-12 overall with a 9-7 record in the Southern Conference. The Spartans finished in a tie for second in the North Division and advanced all the way to the semifinals of the Southern Conference Championship.

- UNCG returns three starters and its libero from last season. Senior Ariel Newman returns as the starting outside hitter after leading the team with a 2.97 kills per set average a season ago. Setter Ari Lysacek also returns after posting 970 assists in 2010 and middle blocker Olivia Humphries is also back this year. Libero Kellie Orewiler was a Southern Conference All-Freshman Team selection a year ago and will look to solidify the Spartans defensively.

- Ariel Newman, Sarah Eldridge and Kellie Orewiler were all named team captains this season by their teammates. Newman and Eldridge are the lone seniors on the team this year, while Orewiler is a sophomore this season.

- UNCG has many returners this season who were ranked in the top-10 in numerous categories within the SoCon. Ariel Newman's 2.97 kills per set average ranked seventh in the league in 2010 and Kellie Orewiler's 3.60 digs per set average was good enough for ninth place. Ari Lysacek was fifth in the SoCon with a 7.89 assists per set average and was also seventh in service aces after posting 37 for a .30 per set average.

- This year's team will look to match the 2010's squad in tournaments this season as last year's team came away with two tournament titles in the first four weeks of the season. UNCG began the year by winning the Spartan Classic at Norfolk State University before winning its own tournament, the Spartan Spiketacular, just a few weeks later. It was the first time since 1995 that UNCG had won two tournaments in a single season.

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