BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. - The Gardner-Webb volleyball team (12-16, 3-8 Big South) takes to the road for the final time in 2025 this weekend, visiting USC Upstate (13-11, 6-5 Big South) on Friday and UNC Asheville (8-16, 5-6 Big South) on Saturday

FRIDAY GAME INFORMATION
Game 29: Gardner-Webb (12-16, 3-8 Big South) at USC Upstate (13-11, 6-5 Big South)
Location: GB Hodge Center - Spartanburg, S.C.
First Serve: 6:00 pm
Stream: ESPN Plus
Most Recent Meeting: 2025 - Upstate 3, Gardner-Webb 1
Series History: Upstate leads 14-10

SATURDAY GAME INFORMATION
Game 30: Gardner-Webb (12-16, 3-8 Big South) at UNC Asheville (8-16, 5-6 Big South)
Location: Justice Center - Asheville, N.C.
First Serve: 2:00 pm
Stream: ESPN Plus
Most Recent Meeting: 2025 - Asheville 3, Gardner-Webb 0
Series History: Asheville leads 24-15

GARDNER-WEBB NOTES

• In the reverse match-ups in the Boiling Springs, the Runnin' Bulldogs fell 3-0 to UNC Asheville on October 10th and 3-1 to USC Upstate on October 11th
• Gardner-Webb is led on the attack by a freshman and a sophomore. Freshman outside hitter Haedyn Crumbley has a team-high 201 kills, the only player on the team to surpass the 200 kills mark for rhe season
• In the assist column, sophomore setter Olivia Lefebvre leads the way for GWU with 562, and over 5.4 per set. Lefebvre has posted a series of career games in Big South play with her top-five best performances all coming since league play opened in September, including 39 assists at High Point and 30 at Winthrop
• Junior middle Milla Lugo is top ten in the Big South Conference in hitting percentage during league play with 74 kills at a tune of .282%. Lugo is also top five in the league in total blocks since the start of conference play with 47
• On the defensive end, graduate libero Nalani McBride has been excellent, with 590 digs and 5.67 digs per set this season. McBride remains the national leader in total digs, and sits top five in digs per set across all of NCAA Division I, while also closing in on the program record of 660 digs in one season
• McBride recently reached a career milestone as well, recording her 1000th dig between Gardner-Webb and Temple against Radford on October 25th, on the way to claiming her fifth Big South Libero of The Week Award. After leading the Runnin' Bulldogs to a pair of wins last week, McBride is the active award holder with six selections this campaign
• Among a team of mostly freshman and sophomores, freshman right side Sarina Galyean has seen some excellent play for GWU, with 78 total kills including 12 against Marshall and 10 against Queens in consecutive games
• Other newcomers to the team include redshirt freshman right side Alexis Maesch, who has standout games this season against Campbell with 12 kills and a .241% hitting percentage, and against Radford a couple weekends ago with seven kills, two block assists and a .500 hitting percentage
• Junior outside hitter Nicole Osborne has emerged in a big way for Gardner-Webb over the last two weeks, recording a six kills, with two digs and a block assist off the bench against Radford, then posting a season-best eight kills, nine digs and a .259 hitting percentage at Lees-McRae mid-week
• As a team, Gardner-Webb ranks first in the Big South in several key categories, with 1245 kills, 63 solo blocks, 155 service aces, and 1904 digs
• Entering this weekend, the Runnin' Bulldogs remain within reach of the Big South Tournament for the first time since 2023, trailing current No. 6 seed Radford by one game, but holding the tiebreaker with a season sweep of the Highlanders. Radford visits Charleston Southern and Presbyterian this weekend, 
• With 12 wins this season, Gardner-Webb is just two wins away from tying its most wins in the last decade (14 in 2023) and is three wins away from its most in a single NCAA Division I season (15 in 2013)