AUGUSTA, Ga. -- The Augusta State volleyball program travels to Pembroke, N.C., this weekend to compete in the Peach Belt Conference Championships in the English Jones Center on the campus of UNC Pembroke.

The Jaguars will face rival USC Aiken on Saturday, Nov. 15 at 1:00 p.m. ASU rallied for a 3-2 victory over the Pacers only a week ago in Christenberry Fieldhouse. The teams split the regular-season series, with USCA beating the Jags 3-1 on Oct. 3 in Aiken’s Convocation Center.

ASU junior Jessica Howard, a PBC Player-of-the-Year candidate, will lead the Jags into the conference tourney. Howard currently leads the PBC in kills (474/3.67 kpg.) and blocks (159/1.23 bpg.) and ranks third in the league in attack percentage (.326). She is a two-time PBC Player-of-the-Week (Sept. 2 and Oct. 27) selection and a PBC preseason all-conference team selection.

Ashley Zappitell, the reigning PBC Specialist-of-the-Week, is a Freshman-of-the-Year candidate. A setter from Utica, Mich., Zappitell set a season high with 55 assists vs. USC Aiken, the fifth-highest, single-match total this season in the PBC. She currently ranks fourth in the league in assists at 7.81 apg.

The PBC Volleyball Championships begins at 11:00 a.m. Saturday with the first of two quarterfinal matches beginning with Lander facing host UNCP and followed by ASU and USC Aiken. The semifinal round begins at 5:00 with the Lander/UNCP winner meeting Francis Marion, then the ASU/USCA winner taking on Armstrong Atlantic State at 7:00.

The tourney concludes on Sunday with the championship match at 2:00 p.m. All matches will be played in the English Jones Center and each match will feature live stats and a live video feed available at the official website of ASU Athletics, www.aug.edu/athletics. 

2008 PBC Volleyball Championship Web Site
Live Tournament Stats
Live Tournament Video