FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 10-28-06

College Volleyball: AASU 3, UNC Pembroke 1

SAVANNAH, Ga. – Armstrong Atlantic State captured a share of the 2006 Peach Belt Conference regular season volleyball title with a 3-1 victory over visiting UNC Pembroke on Saturday afternoon in Savannah. Game scores were: 30-20, 27-30, 30-21, 30-26.

The Pirates (18-13, 10-2 PBC) join a three-way tie for the title with Francis Marion and USC Aiken. The Pacers joined the mix with a win today at USC Upstate as all three teams finished the season with 10-2 marks in the Peach Belt Conference. The three-way tiebreaker for the upcoming Peach Belt Conference tournament goes in favor of USC Aiken, who will be the No. 1 seed. FMU will be No. 2 and the Pirates will be the No. 3 seed.

AASU opened the match with a relatively easy game-one win, 30-20, but errors put the Pirates behind early in game two, leading to the Braves win. AASU committed six service errors and had 11 hitting errors in the game as UNCP took the game, 30-27. The Pirates rebounded to take game three, 30-21, but fell behind in game four to the Braves, 18-11, before rallying to win 19 of the last 27 points to take the match.

Senior Leah Schmiedge hit .282 with 16 kills to lead the Pirates, while senior Lauren Good hit .281 with 12 kills. Margaret Thornton tallied 28 assists and Rindy Vidovich collected 23 digs and five blocks on the match. UNC Pembroke was led by Abigail Parker’s match-high 17 kills, Andrea Laza’s 30 digs and Lexie Wood’s 21 assists.

The Pirates will wrap up the 2006 regular season with a 3:00 p.m. match on Sunday against region foe Barry. AASU will honor its eight seniors in a ceremony before the match.

- Pirates -