Storm Volleyball to Compete in National Tournament

By Kathy Kepley
Davidson County Community College

November 3, 2011

The Davidson County Community College Storm volleyball team will open its bid for a National Junior College Athletic Association Division III championship on Nov. 11 in Rochester, Minn.

The Storm (19-8) will take on the top-ranked Ridgewater College of Willmar, Minn. during the opening match at 11 a.m. (10 a.m. EST) at the UCR Regional Sports Center in Rochester. The winner will play in the semifinal round on Friday afternoon for the opportunity to advance to the championship game on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 2:30 p.m. (1:30 p.m. EST).

“The team is very excited about this awesome opportunity that they earned through hard work and great game play,” said second-year Storm coach Heather Adkins. “We are hard at it, practicing as much as we can before we leave out Wednesday morning (Nov. 9), and then we get two days of practice while we are there to get ready for our first game. We face the number one seed in the first game, but we’ll continue to work hard and place as high as we can at nationals this year.”

DCCC, the District H representative, qualified for the national tournament by defeating Montgomery County Community College in the district championship game on MCCC’s home court in Blue Bell,, Penn., on Saturday, Oct. 29. The Storm advanced in convincing fashion with a 25-14, 25-19, 18-25, 25-21 win. The team earned the berth in the district game by winning the Region X tournament on Oct. 22 against Tarheel Conference foe Sandhills Community College in Brinkley Gym, the Storm home court on the Davidson Campus.

The Storm netters are led by setter Kelsey Templeton and middle hitter Beth Cloninger, both of whom were named to the All-Region X team. Templeton is also a Division III, All-American nominee. Other team members are outside hitters Jordan Pace and Jessie Palmer, defensive specialists Brandi Hoover and Tressa McGee, setter Amber Parrish, middle hitter Allison Flynn and libero La’Nesha Harris.