WCU volleyball looks to continue in-season success in SoCon tournament

With WCUs volleyball regular season over, the team finished with a 17-11 record overall with a 10-6 record against Southern Conference (SoCon) opponents. With the SoCon tournament quickly approaching, the team is looking to make a splash and win a championship.  

Out of WCU’s 10 wins in the SoCon, only one of those wins came against teams currently ranked ahead of them (ETSU and Samford), that win came from Samford on Sept. 23.  

ETSU has run away with the conference this year. Their conference record stands at 15-1, with two of those wins coming against the Catamounts on Oct. 8 and Nov. 4.  Samford, the second seed, has an 11-5 record against conference opponents. WCU has earned third seed. 

“Every team is putting in their all,” libero Ollie Henderson said.  

To win the tournament, WCU will have to find a way to defeat the powerhouse team ETSU who will have the easiest path to the final game thanks to their first seed placement. WCU’s first game is against Mercer on Nov. 18.  

WCU is not yet focused on the championship game. The Catamounts want to take things day by day.  

“We are very excited for what’s coming at the tournament. We’re all focused and wanting to perform our best with each game,” Henderson said.  

The Southern Conference Championship begins when the number 8 seed, Furman, hosts a first-round game against the number 9 seed, UNCG, on Nov. 14. Following this game, the remainder of the Championship will be held at Timmons Arena in Greenville, South Carolina, from Nov. 18 through 20. The WCU-Mercer game will be played at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 18.   

WCU Head coach Karen Glover says the team has all the pieces to compete for a SoCon championship. 

“I think our team is playing with a lot of confidence right now,” Glover said. 

Glover credited a tough preseason schedule, including wins against N.C. State and Appalachian State, as a good test of WCU’s potential. WCU also faced power-5 opponents Indiana and TCU.  

Glover said the team needs to have a balanced attack in order to be successful in the tournament.  

“It starts with executing… We have very effective attackers at every position including preseason all-conference player Merry Gebel. Additionally, I think we have the top defense in the conference anchored by libero Destinee Dorsey and middles Johnna Robinson and Eden Punch,” Glover said.  

Glover said WCU will need to lean on their senior leadership to make this tournament a success.