BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – The Gardner-Webb volleyball team is set to open the Big South Conference portion of the 2017 schedule on Tuesday night as the Runnin' Bulldogs travel to UNC Asheville.
 
Gardner-Webb finished the non-conference slate with a 6-6 record, including a 3-0 weekend on September 8-9 to win the 2017 ECU Classic, picking up wins over The Citadel, East Carolina, and Hampton.
 
Kaelyn Dyson and Nicole Celarek have led the Runnin' Bulldogs on the attack throughout the season, with each tallying 106 and 103 kills respectively.  Keira Moore has a team-high 60 blocks on the season, while Emma Milstead leads the team with 197 digs.  Amanda Sahm leads the 'Dogs with 319 assists and 12 service aces.
 
Moore's 60 blocks currently leads all players in the Big South, and her numbers during the week of September 4-10, in which she had 24 blocks, earned her Big South Defensive Player of the Week honors.
 
UNC Asheville is 4-7 on the season, led on the attack by Cara Guthrie with 133 kills.  Ava Venema leads the Bulldogs with 15 blocks, while Guthrie also leads the team in digs with 111.  Kalley Hackett leads the team in assists with 167.
 
Gardner-Webb's conference home opener will take place this Friday, September 22 as the Runnin' Bulldogs host Radford.  It will be the team's "Dig Lime" match, in which the squad is raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS).  Current GWU graduate assistant coach Heather Feldman was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma in November 2016 and after treatment was declared to be in complete remission in May 2017.  For more information on Feldman's story and to donate to the LLS, please visit http://events.lls.org/pages/nc/Gardner-Webb-University-Women-s-Volleyball-2018. Fans are encouraged to wear lime green (the official support color of lymphoma) to the match.