CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Western Carolina volleyball raises the curtain on the 2022 season this weekend as the Catamounts head to Winston-Salem, N.C., for the Wake Forest Invitational. WCU opens the season against Kennesaw State on Friday at 4:30 p.m. before facing the host Demon Deacons at Noon and NC Central at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. Each match will be played at Reynolds Gymnasium, located in the heart of Wake's Reynolds Campus.
All three matches will have live stats available on CatamountSports.com. Saturday's match against Wake Forest will be streamed on ACC Network Extra (
paid subscription required).
WCU hosted its lone exhibition match of the preseason last Saturday against Anderson University with all 18 players on the roster seeing playing time. The Catamounts were tabbed to finish fifth in the Southern Conference, while both fifth-year senior
Merry Gebel and junior
Destinee Dorsey were selected to the preseason all-conference team.
Kennesaw State was picked to finish in third place in the ASUN Conference with senior Emma Schurfranz earning preseason all-conference recognition. The Owls went 20-9 in 2021 aided by a 12-match winning streak. WCU is 2-0 against Kennesaw State with the last matchup occurring in 2007.
Wake Forest was picked to finish 11th in the Atlantic Coast Conference coaches poll which was announced on Tuesday. The Demon Deacons finished with a 15-14 record last season. WCU and Wake meet for the first time since 2014 with the Catamounts leading the all-time series, 9-3.
Opposition in WCU's third match of the tournament, N.C. Central placed fourth in the MEAC preseason coaches poll coming off an 11-14 season a year ago. WCU is 2-0 against N.C. Central with the last matchup occurring in 1980.
The Catamounts head to the Golden Eagle Invitational hosted by Tennessee Tech in Cookeville, Tenn., next weekend and are scheduled to face Evansville and Northwestern along with the tournament host.
Keep track of everything related to Catamount volleyball and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@wcu_catamounts, @catamountvb), and Twitter (@catamounts, @catamountvb).
