Wallace State volleyball hosting NJCAA District L/M Championship beginning Friday; Lions seeking 10th straight title
HANCEVILLE, ALA. — Wallace State’s 19th-ranked volleyball team begins the postseason Friday, hosting the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) District L/M Championship at Tom Drake Coliseum.
Wallace State (30-7) is seeking its 10th consecutive Alabama Community College Conference (ACCC) tournament championship and has won 11 consecutive matches entering the tournament. The Lions earned the tournament’s top seed after winning their 11th straight ACCC regular-season championship.
“We know we’ve got to play well and can’t overlook any team. I’m proud that we played much more consistent down the stretch and stuck with certain lineups. We’ll have to step up and play our best this weekend because the target is always on our back,” said Wallace State coach Randy Daniel, the winningest coach in program history.
Wallace State, which has a first-round bye, plays the Snead State-Lawson State winner at 2 p.m. on Friday.
The District L/M Championship begins Friday at noon with a pair of matches featuring Snead State/Lawson State and Monroe College/Coastal Alabama-South.
Monroe College is making the trip down from New York after winning their region championship for the eighth year in a row. The Mustangs are penciled in as the tournament’s third seed.
Monroe College has been a common non-conference opponent for Wallace State the past few seasons. The Lions traveled to New York earlier this season and lost a close match to Monroe College, falling in five sets (25-20, 14-25, 12-25, 25-19, 10-15).
“If we match up with them, I think it should help that we’ve played Monroe once this season. They are extremely talented, but we believe we could have played better the first time. We have to focus on Snead State or Lawson State first,” Daniel said.
Tournament games are slated for 10 a.m., noon and 2 p.m. on Saturday. The championship match is set for noon on Sunday.
The champion and runner-up of this weekend’s tournament advances to the NJCAA Division I National Championship in Hutchinson, Kan., on Nov. 15-17.
The Lions have made nine consecutive NJCAA Division I national championship appearances under Daniel, who has a career record of 434-96 in 11 seasons at Wallace State.
Wallace State sophomore Lexie Riggins, last season’s ACCC Tournament MVP, is second in the conference with 3.42 kills per set and third overall with 369 kills.
Maya Jones is second on the Lions with 303 kills, and Karlee Hale, a freshman from Geraldine, has registered 302 kills and 132 digs.
Wallace State’ McKenzie Boland leads the ACCC with 1,202 assists, including 10.54 assists per set. Madison Rhodes has contributed 224 assists.
Freshman Alexis Snow is third in the conference with 392 digs.
Sophomore Courtlyn Barber has added 173 digs and 115 kills for the Lions, and Alex Wiggins has 166 kills and 160 digs. Fellow sophomore Katie Edwards has 187 digs.
Admission to the tournament is $7 per day for adults and $5 for senior citizens. Children five and under are admitted free. Wallace State students are admitted free with their student ID.
All tournament games will be streamed live at https://www.jockjive.com/acccsports.html
For more information about Wallace State athletics, visit www.athletics.wallacestate.edu or the athletics Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Wallace-State-Community-College-Athletics-238544719506181/
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