HICKORY, N.C. — The sixth-ranked Catawba Valley Community College volleyball program is holding its sixth annual Region Xtravanganza on Friday and Saturday at the Tarlton Complex.

The Red Hawks (7-2) welcome 11 conference teams to their campus for the event, including Bryant & Stratton, Cape Fear, Davidson County, Fayetteville Tech, Guilford Tech, Lenoir, Louisburg, Pitt, Surry, USC Salkehatchie and Wake Tech.

"It's just nice to get all of the conference teams in at the same time," said Catawba Valley head volleyball coach Shannon Hudson. "Everybody takes a look at how play is going for the conference this season. In some sense, it's like a family reunion. A lot of the coaches have been around for a while. To get together and have everyone in the same arena — it's a fun atmosphere. We're looking forward to it."

This will be the first time this season that Catawba Valley has played more than four matches in a weekend tournament — competing in three matches on Friday before finishing with two more on Saturday.

"We've got a lot of matches for one weekend, but we like it that way," Hudson said. "It gives all of our girls a chance to play and compete. We learn and get better because of it. Several times last year we played three matches in one day. We typically have five total matches during our Xtravaganza. Some of the teams are traveling from a distance. Being able to get more matches in during the day helps everyone out."

With 12 total teams in the region, Hudson said the Region Xtravaganza is important for all of the teams participating.

"Our Region has grown so much," she said. "It's a big region. It has been one of the largest in the country for a while. This year is no exception. We made the decision to play everyone once — home one year and away the next. It's just an advantage to get everyone involved (in the Region Xtravaganza) as far as cost and travel to get in as many matches in one weekend as you can. It kind of frees up your schedule for what you need to get done for the season."

So far, the Red Hawks' only losses this season have come against ranked competition.

CVCC fell to second-ranked DII Parkland at the Owens Invitational in Ohio at the end of August. Catawba Valley also dropped a tough match last weekend against 15th-ranked DI College of Central Florida at the Monroe College Invitational in New York.

Despite those pair of setbacks, Hudson has been pleased with her team's ability to control the tempo.

"Ball control has been great no matter who we've played," she said. 'Even against the big teams that we've played, the passing has still been there. That helps us to be able to play with some consistency."

While tempo has not been an issue for her squad, mental mistakes have been a problem Hudson is hoping her players will cut down on.

"We are still making a few too many errors on our side of the net," she said. "When we play clean, we're going to be hard to beat. You're going to make some of those errors as young freshmen. Those are some of the things we really need to clean up to be successful toward the end of the season, but we're getting there. We're getting cleaner with each game that we play."

The Red Hawks bring a 126-match winning streak in conference play into this weekend's Region Xtravaganza, but Hudson said there has been no talk about extended the consecutive win mark.

"I don't think that's our focus," Hudson said. "Our focus is to play good, competitive volleyball and do our best on our side of the net. I think if we do that then we're going to be successful. We'll come out with the win. The wins are going to happen as long as we are playing our game on our side of the net."


Sixth annual Region Xtravaganza schedule

Friday matches

10:30 a.m. — Cape Fear vs. Davidson County
12:30 p.m. — #6 Catawba Valley vs. Lenoir
12:30 p.m. — Pitt vs. Guilford Tech
2 p.m. — Bryant & Stratton vs. USC Salkehatchie
2 p.m. — Cape Fear vs. Guilford Tech
4 p.m. — #6 Catawba Valley vs. Louisburg
4 p.m. — Davidson County vs. Pitt
5:30 p.m. — #6 Catawba Valley vs. Cape Fear
5:30 p.m. — Davidson County vs. USC Salkehatchie
7 p.m. — Surry vs. Bryant & Stratton

Saturday matches

9 a.m. — #6 Catawba Valley vs. Pitt
9 a.m. — Bryant & Stratton vs. Wake Tech
10:30 a.m. — #6 Catawba Valley vs. Fayetteville Tech
10:30 a.m. — Surry vs. Wake Tech