By Tyler Klinedinst
The William Peace Volleyball team posted the best record in university history this year, 24-8 for the season and 12-5 among conference teams.
In the USA South Conference Championship Nov. 2, the team faced off against NC Wesleyan first and won the match in 3-0 sweep; however, the team fell short to Meredith losing 1-3 and ending the season.
Seniors Laura Bland and Tempestt Frazier are among the top hitters on the team, with Frazier posting a .362 percentage on 549 attempts and Bland with a .202 with a team high of 992 attempts.
Liana Solomon also played a huge role in this team’s success, posting a .298 hitting percentage on 242 attempts this season. Solomon also has a team leading number of assists with 883 providing 9.60 assists per set for the team as well the second most digs on the team with 271.
“I think our team has done an overall great job in executing specific goals for specific games,” said Bland, a senior. “Throughout the season we have done a great job of pushing points to finish games and working as a team to keep positive attitudes on the court. The only thing we could see improvement on is finishing games in three sets rather than playing down and having to go four sets.”
The team has already won a number of awards. Solomon, Bland and Frazier each won a USA Volleyball Player of the Week award this season, and freshman Mya Parks was named the USA South Volleyball Rookie of the Week twice.
Bland is very excited at the opportunity to play in the tournament her senior year.
“Going into the tournament I think that as long as we play together as a team, and we play to the potential that we can with a positive attitude big things will happen,” said Bland. “I am very excited to see how far we can go.”
Lindsay Alford, junior middle blocker, says the team meshes well on and off the court.
“I feel that we’re all very candid with each other,” said Alford. “We can joke together and take criticism from each other. No one is over anyone else in the terms of rank and we just enjoy each others’ company, which makes spending all the time during season together enjoyable.”