CASPER, WYO. – Wallace State volleyball opens play Thursday at the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I championships in Casper, Wyo., with their highest ever seed in the tournament.
The 12th-seeded Lions play No. 5 Hillsborough (Fla.) Community College in a first-round match at 4 p.m. CST on Thursday.
Wallace State (39-6) is making its seventh consecutive NJCAA Division I tournament appearance and a state-best 15th overall after another dominant march through the Alabama Community College Conference (ACCC). The Lions, the District O champion, advanced to the national tournament after defeating Faulkner State for the ACCC tournament championship on Nov. 1.
Wallace State returns to the court Thursday to play Hillsborough. The Hawks, based out of Plant City, Fla., enter the tournament with a 31-5 record as the District H champion.
Wallace State is led on the front line by sophomores CeCe Hall and Kheala Roberts.
Hall, an Alabama commitment, led the conference this season in hitting percentage (.631), kills (487), kills per set (3.90), blocks (197) and blocks per set (1.58). She was named the 2015 ACCC Player of the Year and conference tournament MVP.
Roberts, a first-team ACCC All-Region and all-tournament selection for Wallace State, enters the national tournament with 338 kills, 124 blocks and a .491 hitting percentage.
Sophomore setter Alexandra Gamble, also a first-team ACCC All-Region and all-tournament selection, has registered 1,131 assists this season.
Freshman Kelsea Bivins has collected 415 kills and 230 digs for Wallace State, Cierra Davis has 277 kills and 254 blocks and August Newberry has added a team-high 623 digs.
Follow all of the action at:
http://njcaa.org/sports/wvball/2015-16/div1/national_championship/index