UC, State Contenders for WVC Volleyball Title
November 10, 2005
Staff reports
Courtesy of The Charleston Gazette
The University of Charleston and West Virginia State will look to take down top-seeded Wheeling Jesuit when the West Virginia Conference volleyball tournament gets underway this afternoon at the Charleston Catholic Sports Complex.
The Cardinals (19-16, 17-1 WVC) and the No. 2 Golden Eagles (23-9, 17-1) each received first-round byes. Wheeling Jesuit has won the conference’s regular-season crown four years running, but UC handed the Cardinals their lone loss in October and beat them in last year’s conference championship.
No. 3 State (22-12, 15-3) will open against No. 14 West Liberty State (2-23, 2-16) at 5 p.m. today. The Yellow Jackets are coming off last week’s huge home win over UC, a team they had never defeated in volleyball heading into this season. They also set a school record for wins, eclipsing last year’s mark of 18.
State’s Blair Ruddle (South Charleston) and Dava Kaltenecker (Parkersburg) each came up big in the win over UC, with Ruddle recording 21 kills and Kaltenecker getting 20 digs. Ruddle shared WVC Co-Player of the Week honors with West Virginia Wesleyan’s Michelle Clelland for her role in last week’s win over UC.
UC will face the winner of today’s 1 p.m. match between No. 7 Shepherd (13-18, 10-8) and No. 10 Alderson-Broaddus (7-22, 7-11). The Golden Eagles enter as defending tournament champs, despite a three-match losing skid coming in. Middle hitter Katy Skelley, a sophomore, was last season’s Freshman of the Year in the WVC.
In other matches today, No. 8 Salem International (8-12, 8-10) will face No. 9 Concord (12-18, 8-10) at 1 p.m.; No. 5 Fairmont State (18-18, 14-4) takes on No. 12 Glenville State (3-27, 3-15) at 3 p.m.; No. 6 Davis & Elkins (17-15, 11-7) faces No. 11 Ohio Valley (9-28, 5-13) at 3 p.m.; and fourth-seeded Wesleyan (17-15, 15-3) will face No. 13 Bluefield State (6-16, 3-15) at 5 p.m.
The WVC tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Region tournament.
Entry fee is $5 for adults, $4 for children 10-18, and free for children under 10.