Volleyball Set to Host SpringHill Suites Invitational
9/15/2010 9:43:00 PM | Volleyball
STATESBORO, Ga. – Welcoming four teams to Hanner Fieldhouse, the Georgia Southern Volleyball team will host the SpringHill Suites Invitational, Sept. 16-18. Charleston Southern, East Tennessee State, South Alabama and Winthrop will travel to Statesboro for the three-day tournament.
Ticket Information: Admission to the tournament is $5 for adults and $1 for children ages 3-12 for single matches. Children under the age of 3 are admitted free. A tournament pass for admission into all nine matches is $12. Season tickets for the volleyball season are currently on sale at $20 for a single pass or $40 for a family pass, which includes two adult and two children passes. Tickets can be purchased by calling 1-800-GSU-WINS or by visiting the Hanner Fieldhouse ticket office right outside the main gates to Hanner one hour before match time.
Tournament Schedule:
Thursday, Sept. 16
7 p.m. – South Alabama vs. Georgia Southern
Friday, Sept. 17
10 a.m. – South Alabama vs. Winthrop
12 p.m. – Charleston Southern vs. East Tennessee State
5 p.m. – East Tennessee State vs. South Alabama
7 p.m. – Winthrop vs. Georgia Southern
Saturday, Sept. 18
10 a.m. – Georgia Southern vs. East Tennessee State
12 p.m. – Charleston Southern vs. South Alabama
5 p.m. – Winthrop vs. East Tennessee State
7 p.m. – Georgia Southern vs. Charleston Southern
Promotions: At all home Georgia Southern Volleyball matches this season, fans can enter a raffle to win a Nintendo Wii as part of the “Win a Wii courtesy of SpringHill Suites” season-long promotion. A sign-up table will be located in the main hallway of Hanner Fieldhouse. Thursday night's match against South Alabama will feature a talk from Head Football Coach Jeff Monken at halftime and the Volleyball Eagles will host an autograph session on the court following the conclusion of the match.
All Faculty/Staff will receive $1 admission into the Winthrop-Georgia Southern match at 7 p.m. on Friday night upon showing their University ID. The first 100 fans into Saturday morning's match at 10 a.m. against East Tennessee State can receive a free donut and the GSU Athletic Foundation Tailgate will take place from 6-7 p.m. on Saturday in front of Hanner Fieldhouse. Fans must present a ticket for the 7 p.m. Winthrop-Georgia Southern match or a Georgia Southern University student ID. Head Volleyball Coach Chad Callihan will speak at the tailgate at 6:30 p.m.
Follow the Matches: Every match of the SpringHill Suites Invitational will have live stats, accessible from the main page at www.GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com or by clicking here. In addition, all matches are scheduled to be web cast on EagleVision, also accessible on the main page of Georgia Southern Athletics. Score updates will be posted on Georgia Southern's twitter page, twitter.com/gsscores.
Scouting Georgia Southern: The Eagles enter the tournament carrying a 4-6 record thus far in the season. Georgia Southern is coming off the NC State Tournament, going 1-2 taking a win over Mercer to close out the weekend. The Eagles fell 3-1 to both NC State and Morehead State.
Ranking second in the league and first on the team, junior Bethany Sanford (Avondale, Ariz.) continues to pace the Eagle offense with her 3.78 kills per set average and 136 kills this season. With 368 assists on the season, sophomore setter Kate Van Dyke (Shawnee, Kan.) is third in the league with 9.44 assists per set. As a team, Georgia Southern leads the Southern Conference with a .247 hitting percentage.
Scouting Charleston Southern: Coming off the Best Western Invitational hosted by North Florida, Charleston Southern comes into this weekend's tournament with a 4-6 mark. CSU picked up a pair of wins on Saturday, defeating host North Florida and Chattanooga. Holding the nation's third best kills per set average, Amanda Hill has been explosive to open the season, leading the team with 4.95 kps. The senior outside hitter also leads the team with 3.90 digs per set.
Georgia Southern closes out the tournament facing Charleston Southern on Saturday evening. It will be the 10th meeting between the programs with the Eagles leading 6-3 in the all-time series.
Scouting East Tennessee State: Edging UNC Greensboro and UNC Asheville over the weekend, the Bucs boast a 6-4 mark entering the tournament. ETSU has won five of its last six matches despite dropping a 3-1 decision to Austin Peay. Anchoring the offense for the Bucs is Desiree Dyck who averages 2.85 kills per set, while junior libero Kiley Tamblyn leads the team with 3.97 digs per set.
The last meeting between the Eagles and Bucs occurred in 2004 with the Eagles taking the victory, 3-0. The non-conference foes have faced each other 25 times before Saturday morning's match with ETSU leading 15-10.
Scouting South Alabama: The Jaguars enter the tournament having won four of their last five matches to post a 5-6 record. Picking up a road win on Tuesday night, South Alabama swept Southeastern Louisiana, 3-0. Senior outside hitter Juliana Almeida leads the team with 3.48 kills per set. Pacing the team with 3.67 digs per set is Samia Salomao, while senior libero Kari Frazier follows closely behind at 3.50.
This will be the first meeting between Georgia Southern and South Alabama in the all-time series.
Scouting Winthrop: Entering the tournament with a 2-7 record, the Winthrop Eagles have opened the season facing tough competition. Most recently, the Eagles dropped three matches at the Kansas Invitational after facing Northern Iowa, UALR and host Kansas. Averaging 3.11 kills per set, senior Kaley Viola leads the club's offense so far this season. Kelsey Harrison and Viola lead defense with 136 digs and 121 digs, respectively.
Winthrop narrowly edges Georgia Southern in the all-time series, leading 5-4. Georgia Southern fell to Winthrop, 2-3, in 2009 at the Wingate Inn Classic, hosted by Winthrop.
Tournament Website: For more information on the tournament, please visit the tournament's website by clicking here.
Ticket Information: Admission to the tournament is $5 for adults and $1 for children ages 3-12 for single matches. Children under the age of 3 are admitted free. A tournament pass for admission into all nine matches is $12. Season tickets for the volleyball season are currently on sale at $20 for a single pass or $40 for a family pass, which includes two adult and two children passes. Tickets can be purchased by calling 1-800-GSU-WINS or by visiting the Hanner Fieldhouse ticket office right outside the main gates to Hanner one hour before match time.
Tournament Schedule:
Thursday, Sept. 16
7 p.m. – South Alabama vs. Georgia Southern
Friday, Sept. 17
10 a.m. – South Alabama vs. Winthrop
12 p.m. – Charleston Southern vs. East Tennessee State
5 p.m. – East Tennessee State vs. South Alabama
7 p.m. – Winthrop vs. Georgia Southern
Saturday, Sept. 18
10 a.m. – Georgia Southern vs. East Tennessee State
12 p.m. – Charleston Southern vs. South Alabama
5 p.m. – Winthrop vs. East Tennessee State
7 p.m. – Georgia Southern vs. Charleston Southern
Promotions: At all home Georgia Southern Volleyball matches this season, fans can enter a raffle to win a Nintendo Wii as part of the “Win a Wii courtesy of SpringHill Suites” season-long promotion. A sign-up table will be located in the main hallway of Hanner Fieldhouse. Thursday night's match against South Alabama will feature a talk from Head Football Coach Jeff Monken at halftime and the Volleyball Eagles will host an autograph session on the court following the conclusion of the match.
All Faculty/Staff will receive $1 admission into the Winthrop-Georgia Southern match at 7 p.m. on Friday night upon showing their University ID. The first 100 fans into Saturday morning's match at 10 a.m. against East Tennessee State can receive a free donut and the GSU Athletic Foundation Tailgate will take place from 6-7 p.m. on Saturday in front of Hanner Fieldhouse. Fans must present a ticket for the 7 p.m. Winthrop-Georgia Southern match or a Georgia Southern University student ID. Head Volleyball Coach Chad Callihan will speak at the tailgate at 6:30 p.m.
Follow the Matches: Every match of the SpringHill Suites Invitational will have live stats, accessible from the main page at www.GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com or by clicking here. In addition, all matches are scheduled to be web cast on EagleVision, also accessible on the main page of Georgia Southern Athletics. Score updates will be posted on Georgia Southern's twitter page, twitter.com/gsscores.
Scouting Georgia Southern: The Eagles enter the tournament carrying a 4-6 record thus far in the season. Georgia Southern is coming off the NC State Tournament, going 1-2 taking a win over Mercer to close out the weekend. The Eagles fell 3-1 to both NC State and Morehead State.
Ranking second in the league and first on the team, junior Bethany Sanford (Avondale, Ariz.) continues to pace the Eagle offense with her 3.78 kills per set average and 136 kills this season. With 368 assists on the season, sophomore setter Kate Van Dyke (Shawnee, Kan.) is third in the league with 9.44 assists per set. As a team, Georgia Southern leads the Southern Conference with a .247 hitting percentage.
Scouting Charleston Southern: Coming off the Best Western Invitational hosted by North Florida, Charleston Southern comes into this weekend's tournament with a 4-6 mark. CSU picked up a pair of wins on Saturday, defeating host North Florida and Chattanooga. Holding the nation's third best kills per set average, Amanda Hill has been explosive to open the season, leading the team with 4.95 kps. The senior outside hitter also leads the team with 3.90 digs per set.
Georgia Southern closes out the tournament facing Charleston Southern on Saturday evening. It will be the 10th meeting between the programs with the Eagles leading 6-3 in the all-time series.
Scouting East Tennessee State: Edging UNC Greensboro and UNC Asheville over the weekend, the Bucs boast a 6-4 mark entering the tournament. ETSU has won five of its last six matches despite dropping a 3-1 decision to Austin Peay. Anchoring the offense for the Bucs is Desiree Dyck who averages 2.85 kills per set, while junior libero Kiley Tamblyn leads the team with 3.97 digs per set.
The last meeting between the Eagles and Bucs occurred in 2004 with the Eagles taking the victory, 3-0. The non-conference foes have faced each other 25 times before Saturday morning's match with ETSU leading 15-10.
Scouting South Alabama: The Jaguars enter the tournament having won four of their last five matches to post a 5-6 record. Picking up a road win on Tuesday night, South Alabama swept Southeastern Louisiana, 3-0. Senior outside hitter Juliana Almeida leads the team with 3.48 kills per set. Pacing the team with 3.67 digs per set is Samia Salomao, while senior libero Kari Frazier follows closely behind at 3.50.
This will be the first meeting between Georgia Southern and South Alabama in the all-time series.
Scouting Winthrop: Entering the tournament with a 2-7 record, the Winthrop Eagles have opened the season facing tough competition. Most recently, the Eagles dropped three matches at the Kansas Invitational after facing Northern Iowa, UALR and host Kansas. Averaging 3.11 kills per set, senior Kaley Viola leads the club's offense so far this season. Kelsey Harrison and Viola lead defense with 136 digs and 121 digs, respectively.
Winthrop narrowly edges Georgia Southern in the all-time series, leading 5-4. Georgia Southern fell to Winthrop, 2-3, in 2009 at the Wingate Inn Classic, hosted by Winthrop.
Tournament Website: For more information on the tournament, please visit the tournament's website by clicking here.
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