CARROLLTON, Ga. – After nine straight conference matches, the University of West Georgia Volleyball team dips out of GSC play as the Wolves travel to Orlando, Florida for the SSC-GSC Crossover.

UWG (11-7, 5-4 GSC) will open up the Crossover on Friday at 12:15 p.m. with a matchup against the Rollins College Tars (10-9, 5-6 SSC) before ending the day with a 7:00 p.m. match against the Embry-Riddle Eagles (12-6, 6-4 SSC). West Georgia will conclude this weekend's play on Saturday after a 2:30 p.m. contest against the Lynn Fighting Knights (13-6, 7-4 SSC).

"This will be a weekend of high-level volleyball with a lot of intense competition," said head coach Kara Hellmann. "It's tough taking a break from conference play this time of the year but we welcome the challenge and are looking forward to the weekend."

The Wolves come into the Crossover winners of four of their last five matches and bring the reigning GSC Defensive Player of the Week and the reigning GSC Freshman of the Week with them in Kelli Kaiser and Desha Van Veldhuizen. In just 18 matches, Kaiser has surpassed 300 digs on the season as the junior collected 39 digs last weekend to bring her season total to 307. The Libero has been vital to West Georgia's back line since she arrived on campus back in 2021, but in her first season as Libero, Kaiser has taken her game to another level, accumulating 25+ digs in three matches so far this year.

UWG is currently hitting .210 this season which stands as the highest hitting percentage in a season since 2019, with Van Veldhuizen playing a large part in that. After a weekend in where she recorded 74 assists, including a career-high 45 coming against Mississippi College on Saturday, Van Veldhuizen catapulted to fourth in the conference in assists with 456.

Having offensive options like Zoë LaBreche, Sanai Young, and Sarah pipping is a luxury for any setter as LaBreche remains the conference leader in kills and points with 263 and 320.5, while Young leads the GSC with a .354 hitting percentage on 146 kills. As for Pipping, she sits seventh in the league in kills with 191 on a .193 percentage.

After starting the season 4-0, Rollins College is 6-9 in their last 15 matches, with a notable 3-0 loss to Auburn Montgomery back in early September. The Tars have been strong offensively this season as they bring a .224 team hitting percentage into the weekend which stands as the highest hitting percentage the Wolves have faced this year. Outside hitter Lana Gerard and middle blocker Jadyn Troutman lead Rollins' offense as Gerard leads the team with 239 kills on a .228 percentage while Troutman sits in second with 218 kills on a .289 percentage.

Embry-Riddle enters the Crossover with six losses on their record with three of those coming to nationally ranked teams in #20 Wingate, #8 Missouri-St. Louis, and #3 Tampa. Jaden McBride leads a talented Eagles' roster as the junior has racked up a team-high 236 kills on a .262 percentage this season. McBride has put down 20+ kills in three matches this year, including a career-high 26 kill performance against Florida Tech back in September.

The Lynn Fighting Knights came into the 2023 campaign ranked #25 in the country until a 1-2 start to the season bounced them out of rankings. The Fighting Knights are uber talented and is arguably the best team the Wolves will face this weekend. Lynn has a balanced offense that is led by their setter Emily Edwards who transferred to the Eagles in 2019 after a stint with the University of Houston. Edwards is 20^th in the country in assists with 761 and has a plethora of offensive options as Aline Olegario, Samantha Wolf, Kenidy Howard, Maria Cecilia, and Dayana Chara have all recorded over 100 kills this season.

First serve for Friday is set for 12:15 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. while first serve for Saturday is set for 2:30 p.m.