News

Lady Titans Are Ready For Volleyball Tournament

(Released 11/04/09)

JAMESTOWN - Guilford Technical Community College's Lady Titans, hit hard by injuries early in the season, expect to have a healthy team when they open the Region 10, Division 2, tournament at 1 p.m. on Friday (Nov. 6) at Lenoir Community College in Kinston.

GTCC will play Lenoir in the first round of the Carolinas-Virginia Conference tournament. "If we win in the first round, we probably will be playing Catawba Valley (Community College), the league champion, in the second round," said GTCC Coach Sabrina Johnson.

"Catawba Valley is very strong but we think we can play with them. One of our highs for the year was being the only team in the conference to beat Catawba Valley. They beat us in five sets at their place near the end of the regular season," she said.

"We have a good shot at winning the tournament. I'm excited about how the season has gone so far, and with this being the biggest and most competitive team that we've had in the four years we've had a team at GTCC," Johnson said. The team compiled a 20-8 record, starting with a 5-1 record before hitting a three-game losing skid.

"We had Anna Rice and Amber Keranen, both of Randleman -- two of our best players - out with injuries and that really hurt," she said. "We've had to bring them back gradually but couldn't let them go all out. We're looking for them to be at their best in the tournament," she said. Rice was out seven days and Keranen missed 10 days on the court.

Johnson said that all members of the team have made contributions to the winning record. "They are a real close knit group, and they've moved around to fill spots when people were out," she said.

Keranen led the team in blocks, and will be a part of next year's strong trio of returnees. Carmen Patterson of Greensboro and Raven Watlington of Durham are the other stars expected to be back next season.

Chareesa Brooks of Asheboro led the team in hits and kills all season, and Rice was the assists leader.

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