Two UNC Asheville volleyball student-athletes received weekly honors from the Big South Conference on Monday, Nov. 12, 2018.
Cara Guthrie was chosen as the Big South Volleyball Player of the Week, while Grace Volk was selected as the Big South Freshman of the Week for the second consecutive week.
Guthrie has now earned Player of the Week honors twice in the 2018 season. She first earned the honor on Aug. 27.
In total, UNC Asheville volleyball has received weekly honors from the league six times this season with Madisen Zyburt also collecting Big South Defensive Player of the Week honors twice (Sept. 17 and Oct. 22).
Guthrie led the Big South last week with 4.33 kills per set. She also averaged 2.56 digs per set. Overall, Guthrie finished UNC Asheville’s two wins last week with 39 kills and 23 digs. Guthrie collected double-doubles in both matches.
In UNC Asheville’s home win over USC Upstate on Nov. 6, Guthrie finished with 25 kills, which ties a career-best. She also had 10 digs, one block and one ace. In UNC Asheville’s thrilling come-from-behind road win at Radford on Nov. 10 to close out the regular season, Guthrie ended her efforts with 14 kills and 13 digs.
Guthrie had 10 double-doubles on the 2018 regular season.
A senior from Jupiter, Fla., Guthrie joined the ultra-exclusive club of those with 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in the win at Radford. After the road win at Radford, Guthrie now has 1,012 digs in her career. Guthrie, who currently has 1,241 kills, became just the 12th in UNC Asheville volleyball history to have over 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs.
Guthrie now with over 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs became just the 46th player in Big South Conference history to have 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in her career. Guthrie also currently has 132 aces in her career, meaning that with her over 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs she became just the 35th in league history with over 1,000 kills, 1,000 digs and 100 aces.
Volk averaged 9.22 assists, 2.22 digs and 0.56 blocks per set last week for the Bulldogs. She paced the UNC Asheville attack in both wins on the week with a total of 83 assists.
In UNC Asheville’s home win over USC Upstate on Nov. 6, Volk ended her efforts with a career-best 46 assists to go along with 11 digs and two blocks. The double-double was her fourth of the season.
In UNC Asheville’s thrilling come-from-behind road win at Radford on Nov. 10, the freshman from Arlington, Neb. finished with 37 assists, nine digs and three blocks.
The 2018 Big South Volleyball Championship will be held Nov. 16-18 at the Justice Center.
UNC Asheville closed out its regular season in emphatic fashion on Saturday, Nov. 10, with a thrilling come-from-behind 3-2 (19-25, 11-25, 25-22, 25-16, 15-12) Big South Conference victory at Radford on Saturday, Nov. 10, 2018.
The victory allowed UNC Asheville volleyball (15-11, 10-6 Big South) to close out the regular season in the midst of a nine-match winning streak.
UNC Asheville’s current nine-match winning streak is its longest winning streak since 2005. It is also the longest of the Frederico Santos era as head coach of the Bulldogs.
UNC Asheville’s 10 wins in league play this regular season marked its most wins in conference play since the 2010 season. The Bulldogs have collected an impressive 19 Big South wins over the last two seasons with UNC Asheville picking up nine wins in league play last season.
The Bulldogs will be the No. 4 seed in the upcoming league championship tournament that will be held at their facility.
UNC Asheville will open its play in the tournament by facing off against fifth-seeded USC Upstate at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 16, at the Justice Center.
The Bulldogs and Spartans split their regular season series with UNC Asheville taking a 3-1 (25-22, 26-24, 17-25, 25-15) home league win over USC Upstate on Tuesday, Nov. 6, at the Justice Center.
UNC Asheville closed out its 2018 regular season home slate an impressive 9-3 at home. UNC Asheville has now won at least seven home matches in a single season for the last four seasons. In fact, the Bulldogs are 35-11 over the last four seasons at home.
Please visit HERE to get your tickets today to for the 2018 Big South Volleyball Championship. To see the final 2018 Big South regular season standings, please visit HERE. To see the official release from the Big South, please visit HERE.
