HANCEVILLE -- Wallace State-Hanceville’s volleyball and soccer teams are both a successful weekend away from advancing to their respective National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) national tournaments. 

Wallace State’s volleyball squad is the top seed in the Alabama Community College Conference tournament which begins Saturday at Gadsden State’s Cherokee Campus. The Lady Lions (31-4) have a first-round bye and play the Southern Union-Jeff Davis winner at noon. 

Meanwhile, the Wallace State soccer team travels to Atlanta to play second-ranked Georgia Perimeter at noon in the NJCAA Southeastern District Championship. The winner advances to the NJCAA Division I National Championship at Mercer Community College in West Windsor, N.J., on Nov. 19-22. 

Wallace State’s volleyball team enters the ACCC Tournament as the top seed for the second consecutive season. The Lady Lions went 13-0 in regular-season conference action to remain undefeated against ACCC foes for the second consecutive season. 

The Lady Lions were in the same situation last season, but lost to Northwest Shoals in the ACCC tournament finals. 

“Hopefully we can learn from last year’s experience. We went in thinking we had the better team and we weren’t exactly ready for the challenge. (NW) Shoals stepped up their game in the tournament,” said Wallace State coach Randy Daniel. “We realize that teams are going to play us much better in the tournament than they did in the regular season. I think we’ll be better prepared this year, have a better attitude and know what to expect.” 

Wallace State’s only losses this season have come to out-of-state opponents. Daniel feels those matches will aid the Lady Lions this weekend. 

“We played better in our last tournament (in Tampa) than we have all season. We even lost two matches, but I felt we played our best,” Daniel added. “The intent of playing in those tournaments was to play quality opponents in order to help us succeed in the state tournament.”  

Host Gadsden State is the tournament’s second seed and the finals are set for Sunday at 2:30 p.m. The tournament champion advances to the NJCAA national championship at Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs, Iowa on Nov. 19-21.   

While the volleyball team needs four matches to prevail as Region XXII champions, the soccer team needs just one. 

It won’t be easy. Wallace State (10-5-1) faces perennial national contender Georgia Perimeter, which enters with a 19-1 record and is searching for its sixth consecutive trip to the national tournament. 

Wallace State ended the regular season winning five of its last six matches and outscoring its opponents 21-5 during the stretch. 

“We finished the way we needed to finish and had everyone contributing in some form,” said Wallace State coach Barry Spitzer. “Georgia Perimeter is a good team. They are champions for a reason. They have 22 good players. 

“We think they can be beat. It’s going to be one of those days where as long as we play to our potential, we will certainly have a chance to beat them.” 

For more information about Wallace State athletics, visit www.wallacestate.edu.

Russell Moore
Staff Writer
Wallace State Community College
P.O. Box 2000, Hanceville, AL 35077
1-866-350-9722   Direct line: 256-352-8443
256-352-8314 fax 
Visit us online at www.wallacestate.edu