PENSACOLA, Fla. – The University of West Florida defense was on fire in a clean sweep over Valdosta State at the UWF Field House on Tuesday evening. With the victory, the Argonauts improved to 13-3 in Gulf South Conference play and 20-8 overall.
 
The first set was a sign of things to come for UWF's defense, as the team put up two blocks, forced five VSU errors and kept the opposition to just a .057 attack percentage. It only got better from there, as the Blazers hit just .048 in the second set and dropped into the negatives, and -.008 in the final frame.
 
Rachel Neblett, Holly Mattmuller and Kathryn Torre extinguished the Blazers' attack chances at the net, with Neblett tallying six blocks and Mattmuller and Torre adding four each. By holding VSU to a .009 attack percentage in the match, UWF's opponent hitting percentage plummeted to .123 on the year in conference play. UWF all-time digs leader Tori Martella picked up 21 digs on the day, with nine in both the first and second sets.
 
Torre was no slouch on the offensive end, with a .471 attack percentage and her eight kills standing just behind Corisha Smith's match-best nine. Freshman Jordyn Poppen tied Torre's eight kills, hitting .227 along the way.
 
Leading all players with 30 helpers, UWF's all-time assists leader Monique StCyr also added on the offensive end as she picked up six kills for a third consecutive match and hit .333. She has picked up 30 assists in 19 of her 28 matches this season.
 
West Florida jumped out to a 7-4 lead in the first, forcing the first of two VSU timeouts in the set. After going on a 5-2 run to stretch the score to 12-6, the Blazers called for another timeout, and UWF never looked back. The Argonauts took a 25-14 win in the first, claimed the second 25-18 and finished the sweep at 25-12.
 
It was a balanced attack all day, as six Argonauts earned two kills in the first set, StCyr, Smith and Poppen picked up three apiece in the second, and four Argos had at least two kills in the third.
 
West Florida continues its home stretch on Friday with a match against Union on for Senior Day at 6 p.m.