RALEIGH, N.C. -- The William Peace University volleyball team jump starts this weekend with the 2017 Cougar Classic at Averett University. The Pacers will play Guildford College and Roanoke College on Friday, September 1st. The team will finish the classic on Saturday, September 2, playing Southern Virginia University and Randolph College.

WPU is under the leadership of head coach, Kevin Daniels, coming into his ninth-year. The Pacers 2016 season finished overall at 24-8 and 11-4 in conference with a third place finish in the East Division.

Coach Daniels shared, "I am looking forward to seeing what our healthy bodies can get done this weekend seeing as we took some injuries in our scrimmage last weekend. I'm eager to see the type of resiliency we'll have bouncing back from those injuries and to see how we respond to adversity on the road."

The USA South Athletic Conference released their 2017 preseason coaches poll and the Pacers were picked third to finish in the East. They have two returning All-Conference performers with Liana Solomon receiving 1st Team East Division and Carson Williams receiving 2nd Team East Division.

The first matchup is against Guildford College who had a 12-14 overall 2016 season record. WPU bested 3 out 4 sets to beat the Quakers last season. The first serve will begin at 7.pm.

There will not be live stats or videos for this tournament, but gopeacepacers.com will feature recaps and stats after the games are completed.

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