ORLANDO, Fla. – The University of West Florida volleyball team split the first day of the South Region Crossover in Orlando, with a clean sweep over Saint Leo and a tough 3-2 loss to Eckerd. Corisha Smith led all Argonauts with 29 kills between the two matches, and Rachel Neblett set a career-high with 18 kills against EC.
 
The pair combined for 47 kills and a .519 attack percentage between them. UWF hit .247 on the day against tough Sunshine State Conference competition, and the Argonauts stand at 14-6 on the year.
 
MATCH 1: West Florida 3, Saint Leo 0
UWF improved its attack percentage in each set of the SLU match, putting up a .222 in the first set, a .294 in the second and a sterling .312 with just four errors in the final frame.  The Argonauts hit .270 on the day, while dominating defensively and holding Saint Leo to a .101 team attack percentage.
 
Corisha Smith led all players with 15 kills and a .636 attack percentage, committing just one error in her 22 swings. Tori Martella picked up another 15 digs, and has at least matched that total in 15 of UWF's 19 matches that season.
 
Kourtney Pittaway recorded her third double-double of the season, with 10 kills and 14 digs in the afternoon match, while hitting .320. Monique StCyr assisted on 38 kills, while Jade Jones made her presence felt at the net with a career-high five blocks.
 
UWF set the tone early with a 7-1 lead in the first set of the match, forcing Saint Leo to take an early timeout. Though Saint Leo battled back and eventually took a lead on four occasions, UWF stayed strong and took a 28-26 win. In all, there were six lead changes and eight ties in the first frame of action, which set up an exciting following two sets.
 
Smith picked up eight of her 15 kills of the match in the first set, while staying error-free, and StCyr tallied 14 assists.
 
While UWF did not jump out to the quick lead that it did in the first, the Argonauts were more consistent in the second and nickel-and-dimed SLU for a six-point, 25-19 victory. West Florida cut its error total from seven in the first set to just four in the second.
 
Pittaway, Smith and Cora Bidlack stood out in the second set, as each totaled three kills and did not have an error.
 
Without question, the best frame for UWF came in the third, which was ultimately a 25-11 win to seal the sweep. West Florida jumped out to another 7-1 lead to force an SLU timeout and went on another 7-1 run later in the set to stretch the lead to 21-7.
 
Bidlack and Smith each picked up four kills in the set, while StCyr added 13 assists and Martella found six digs. The Argo defense was in top form in the final set, keeping Saint Leo at a negative hitting percentage (-.031) and totaling three blocks.
 
West Florida holds the all-time series lead over Saint Leo, 6-5, and the Argonauts have now beaten the Lions in five of the last seven matchups.
 
MATCH 2: West Florida 2, Eckerd 3
It was a back-and-forth match between UWF and Eckerd on Friday night, with Eckerd ultimately taking the victory. West Florida showed streaks of dominance in the first set, despite getting off to a slow start and trailing EC 5-1. The Argonauts fought their way back into a tie at 13-13, and the hot streak led to a 25-23 first-set victory.
 
Neblett added four kills in the first with no errors, and she was followed closely by Smith and Bidlack, who had three each. StCyr posted her 10th 40-assist match of the year, after tallying 38 in the first match of the day.
 
The tides changed in the second set, as Eckerd took a win, but West Florida bounced back for the third and was nearly perfect in the 25-13 win. The Argonauts hit .600 as a team, with just one attack error while holding EC to a negative attack percentage. UWF forced eight Tritons errors and owned the net, recording two blocks and not allowing EC to pick up any.
 
Neblett led the team in the third and fourth sets, as she totaled 11 kills on just 16 swings.  
 
UWF came out hot in the fourth set with a 6-2 lead, but EC would not back down. Over the next 26 points, the teams nearly matched each other, and Eckerd snuck away with a 25-21 win to even the match at 2-2.
 
Eckerd was tough to stop in the deciding fifth set, despite a strong effort from UWF. The Tritons took the final frame 15-9.
 
UWF is back at it for the second day of the South Region Crossover on Saturday at 12:15 p.m. ET, with a match against Nova Southeastern.