Argos Defeated 3-2 by Saint Leo in NCAA Semi-Finals
Valissia Brathwaite (Photo by Andy Meng)West Florida finishes season 23-13
TAMPA, Fla. – The Argonaut volleyball fell in five sets to Saint Leo to end the 2009 campaign at 23-13. The Argos battled through five sets with the No. 2 seeded Lions, before surrendering a 15-9 defeat in the final set. Four West Florida hitters had double-digit kill performances, led senior Patricia Gandolfo’s 16 kills.
Kara Gonzalez (St. Augustine, Fla./St. Augustine HS) produced a team-high .320 with an 11-kill match in just four sets. Jamie Nichols (Crawfordville, Fla./Wakulla HS) and Valissia Brathwaite (British Virgin Islands/Palm Beach CC) each reached double-digits, as Nichols collected 14 and Brathwaite turned in 12 in her last match as an Argonaut. Tricia Tirabassi (Kenosha, Wis./Tremper HS) handed out 50 assists in the affair.
Chelsea Wilhoite (Jacksonville, Fla./Bishop Kenny HS) led the defensive charge with 13 digs, while Amanda Spaay (Kenosha, Wis./Tremper HS) and Maddie Staub (Spanish Fort, Ala./Daphne HS) balanced out the defense with 10 digs each. Gandolfo provided the best block for UWF, posting six that included three solos.
UWF fought tooth-and-nail to a gigantic 30-28 win in a first set that saw 12 ties and eight lead changes. Neither squad led by more than three, and the two tangled at 22 before West Florida earned the first set point opportunity at 24-22. Saint Leo then came out of a timeout to tied it at 24. Saint Leo then reached set point twice before a service error gave West Florida the side out on which they took advantage of to close the set on two kills from Gandolfo.
Set two was a different story, as Saint Leo took a 25-18 win with a whopping .438 hitting percentage. The Argos’ .167 in the set saw six attack errors, though Brathwaite hit an errorless .600 on three kills. The set was tight early on, but a the Lions strung together four points that allowed them to eventually extend to a 17-11 lead over UWF. Despite a four-point run by Gonzalez behind the end line late in the set, the Argos dropped the set.
Saint Leo outhit West Florida .481 to .400 in the third set. SLU led early, 8-4, but UWF put together a comeback that tied at 11, and then surged ahead 20-16. The Argonauts persevered through a Saint Leo run that led the Lions within two, and Gandolfo collected the final kill.
The Lions pushed the match to five with a 25-21 victory in the fourth set. The teams combined for seven service errors and nine attack errors, but it was Saint Leo would outlast. West Florida again staged an attack that came back from a 10-7 deficit, taking a 12-11 lead on the serves of Wilhoite. SLU, however, responded with a five-point run that included two aces to take back the 17-13 lead. The Argos attempted to come from behind with Saint Leo at set point, 24-19, led by a Wilhoite service ace and a solo block from Nichols, but an error concluded the set.
Tied at 2-2, a decision in favor of Saint Leo in the fifth set was the end of the NCAA tournament for West Florida. The Lions reached eight first with an 8-2 score, but West Florida refused to roll over. Gandolfo took the Argos on a five-point run behind the service line that included two kills from Brathwaite and two from Gonzalez. The Lions then served for seven points, and took the win, 15-9.
West Florida finishes this season with a 23-13 overall record, an 8-2 Gulf South Conference record, and a second consecutive GSC Championship under their belts.
