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INDIANAPOLIS - The 2013 Great Midwest Athletic Conference Volleyball Championships, which is scheduled to begin on Thursday, November 21, 2013, will be hosted by Kentucky Wesleyan College in Owensboro, Kentucky. KWC, who earned the top overall seed in the tournament after securing the regular-season title in the final match of the season, will face #8 Central State in the quarterfinals. 
 
Thursday will feature all four quarterfinal matchups, starting with #3 Alderson Broaddus and #6 Ohio Valley at Noon, followed by #2 Cedarville vs. #7 Davis & Elkins at 2:30 p.m. The evening session will begin with #4 Ursuline taking on #5 Trevecca Nazarene at 5:00 p.m. prior to the KWC - Central State matchup at 7:30 p.m.
 
Heading into the tournament, the Panthers have a six match-winning streak, capped off with its second win of the season over Cedarville, which earned KWC the tiebreaker advantage over the Lady Jackets. CU, who are the defending G-MAC champions, enters the tournament with a chip on its shoulder, not losing a match in conference play over the last two seasons, except the two matches against KWC.
 
MATCH ONE- #6 Ohio Valley vs. #3 Alderson Broaddus (11/21 - Noon)
 
Alderson Broaddus will take on Ohio Valley in the first game on the day Thursday.  These two teams played each other twice in the regular season, including the regular-season finale for both teams.  A&B won both in straight sets and they have won five out of their last six matches overall coming into the tournament.
 
The Battlers are led by Victoria Morgan, who is second in the G-MAC with a .332 hitting percentage. She also ranks first in the conference in blocks with just under a block per game. Teammate Jillian Brown will be a factor in the service attack, ranking second in the conference in service aces per set. 
 
For the Fighting Scots, Imani Ward posted a team-leading .312 hitting percentage, which ranks fifth in the conference. Teammate Alyx Henry sits third in the G-MAC in kills per set in her first year of collegiate action.
 
Alderson Broaddus had just three losses on the season, in what is an interesting cluster at the top of the standings. AB has beaten top seed Kentucky Wesleyan twice this season accounting for both of KWC’s losses in conference, while KWC has beaten Cedarville twice - accounting for both of Cedarville’s losses, and Cedarville has beaten AB twice. If AB Advances to the semifinals, they will face Cedarville, who has beaten the Battlers 3-0 at the Volleyball Crossover and then 3-2 in Philippi.
 
MATCH TWO- #7 Davis & Elkins vs. #2 Cedarville (11/21 - 2:30 p.m.)
 
The defending G-MAC champion Lady Jackets will face Davis & Elkins in the second game of the quarterfinals on Thursday. Cedarville swept the season series, winning both matches in straight sets. Cedarville, which swept through the G-MAC in the conferences inaugural season, will look to defend its conference crown, but will need to do it as the #2 seed after losing the head-to-head tiebreaker with KWC.
 
Hannah Wagner averaged 2.78 kills per set and has a .305 hitting percentage to lead the way for Cedarville, while junior Maddie Anderson led the G-MAC in service aces with 0.44 per set. For the Senators, Callie Updike stood third in the conference in blocks per set at 0.81.
 
If Cedarville were to advance, they would take on the winner of Alderson Broaddus and Ohio Valley. CU has won all four meetings with the two teams - beating AB 3-0 and 3-2; and then sweeping both matches from OVU.
 
MATCH THREE- #5 Trevecca Nazarene vs. #4 Ursuline
 
The most intriguing matchup of the quarterfinals might be the battle between Ursuline and Trevecca Nazarene.  Even though Ursuline swept both matches in regular-season to claim the #4 seed, this seems to be the most balanced match on Thursday.
 
Ursuline is led by Emily Adkinson, who has the fourth highest hitting percentage in the conference, and Alex Leister, who averages 2.65 kills per set. For Trevecca, Katelyn Atkinson will lead the attack in the middle as she averages more than three kills per set to lead the conference as a freshman.
 
In the regular season, Ursuline won both matches against the Trojans in straight-sets - once at the Volleyball Crossover and then at home. Ursuline finished 7-7 in conference with all seven wins coming against the bottom four seeds of the tournament.
 
Similarly, TNU finished with a 6-8 conference record with five wins against the three lower seeds, but did manage a win against Alderson Broaddus, which caused AB to slip out of a potential three-way tie for first. 
 
MATCH FOUR- #8 Central State vs. #1 Kentucky Wesleyan
 
The final matchup of quarterfinals will see KWC play host to Central State.  KWC won both matchups during the regular season without dropping a set in two contests. Central State, who is searching for its first win of the season, has won only one set all year - none in conference.  KWC on the other hand has posted seven straight-set wins in their 12 conference wins.
 
The Panthers are led by a group of core talents that dominate the individual statistics. Led by the duo, Dallas Zimmerman and Chelsea Brothers, who rank one and three in hitting percentage in the conference, KWC doesn’t make many mistakes which keeps them in position to win almost every set.  Meanwhile, teammate Summer Alford is second in the conference with just over three kills.
With a win, KWC would face the winner of Trevecca and Ursuline. In the regular season, KWC won all four meetings against the two teams. Ideally the Panthers would like to see TNU as they swept both matches, compared to more difficult 3-1 and 3-2 victories over Ursuline.  
 
SEMIFINALS AND FINALS
 
The four winners that advance out of the quarterfinal round will compete in the semifinals on Friday, November 22 at 5:00 and 7:30 p.m. (central time). The two finalists will take the court on Saturday, November 23 at 1:00 p.m. (central time) with the winner being crowned the 2013 Great Midwest Athletic Conference Volleyball Champion.
 
Follow the action all weekend as the G-MAC provides live stats for all seven matches on G-MACsports.com (click the Live Streaming link). @GreatMidwestAC will be live tweeting throughout the weekend with pictures, updates and as always follow @G_MACscores to get all results from the weekend and all G-MAC contests.