Steven Grandy
Director of Media Relations
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Western Carolina volleyball travels to its third nonconference tournament of the season this weekend as the Catamounts head to Richmond, Ky. for the Colonel Challenge hosted by Eastern Kentucky.
The Catamounts open the tournament Friday at 10 a.m. against Eastern Illinois and face New Mexico State at 4 p.m. that afternoon. WCU and the host Colonels wrap up the tournament at 1 p.m. Saturday. WCU dropped its only other meeting against Western Illinois, suffering a 3-0 loss on Sept. 11, 1999. Eastern Kentucky holds a 2-1 lead in the all-time series with the Colonels winning the latest meeting 3-0 on a neutral court in 2014. WCU and New Mexico State square off for the first time.
Western Carolina enters the weekend 2-3 overall after going 2-1 at the GCU Invitational last weekend. The Catamounts dropped a match to host Grand Canyon on Friday before earning a 3-2 win over Rider on Saturday afternoon and closing out the tournament with a sweep of Villanova.
Heading into the weekend Eastern Kentucky is 1-5 with its lone win coming against SoCon foe UNCG and losses against Appalachian State, Radford, Loyola Chicago, Xavier, and SIU Edwardsville. New Mexico State sports a 3-3 record with victories against UC San Diego, Marist, and Northwestern with a pair of losses against Arizona and UTEP. Western Illinois (0-6) is in search of its first win of 2021 with setbacks against Northern Illinois, William & Mary, CSU Bakersfield, Toledo, IUPUI, and SoCon foe Chattanooga.
The Catamounts conclude the nonconference portion of the schedule next weekend at the Bama Bash hosted by Alabama and will face Houston, Tennessee Tech, and the Crimson Tide.