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West Georgia
STATS
VIDEO
 
West Alabama
STATS
AUDIO
 
Valdosta State
STATS
VIDEO
 
PENSACOLA, Fla. – After a thrilling weekend at the Colorado Premier Challenge, the UWF volleyball team return south to open up conference play against West Georgia, West Alabama and Valdosta State in the next week. Play will begin in Carrollton, Georgia, against UWG on Friday and the Argonauts will face West Alabama on Saturday in Livingston before visiting Valdosta State on Tuesday.
 
Links for all games can be found at GoArgos.com.
 
RECAPPING THE COLORADO PREMIER CHALLENGE: UWF went 2-2 at the Colorado Premier Challenge, picking up wins over Metro State and No. 8 Lewis on the second day of the tournament... West Florida is now 9-7 in its last four appearances in the Colorado Premier Challenge... The field featured three top-5, five top-10 and seven top-20 clubs, and 11 of the 12 teams in attendance were ranked by the AVCA or receiving votes.... Corisha Smith and Rachel Neblett led the Argonauts in the match against Metro State, posting 13 and 10 kills, respectively... Monique StCyr added 33 assists, while Kathryn Torre led the way with six blocks... UWF coasted to a 25-14 first set win against No. 8 Lewis by posting a .400 attack percentage in comparison to Lewis' .093... Kourtney Pittaway posted a career night with a career-high and match-high 18 kills... Kathryn Torre was close behind with 17 kills of her own... Monique StCyr set the table for the Argonauts, posting an outstanding 56 assists in the match... Tori Martella, Sarah Hayman and Pittaway all prevented the Flyers' attacks by posting 24, 19 and 16 digs each.
 
IN THE RANKINGS: West Florida returned to the AVCA's Top 25 rankings after the Colorado Premier Challenge, standing at No. 25... Tori Martella has proven to be one of the top defensive players in the country, leading the GSC in digs per set (5.29) and total digs (164) after 8 matches... Monique StCyr has picked up where she left off last year and ranks third in the conference in total assists (253)... Kathryn Torre ranks fourth in the league with a .314 hitting percentage... Defensively, UWF has been led by Rachel Neblett, who is averaging 1.0 blocks per set... All four of UWF's losses have been to teams ranked in the top 18 spots in the AVCA Coaches Poll.
 
SCOUTING WEST GEORGIA: West Florida's first game of the GSC regular season will be in Carrollton against West Georgia... UWG was picked last in the GSC preseason poll and dropped its first conference matchup of the year 3-0 to Alabama Huntsville on September 13... Freshmen Madi Fleming and McKenna Wharton were chosen as head coach Trina Braden's top newcomers to the conference, and each have made an immediate impact for the Wolves... Wharton leads the team and ranks eighth in the GSC in kills per set (3.11) and Fleming leads the team with 148 assists... UWG's top returner is Katie Hanson, who leads the team in total kills... UWF holds an all-time 27-3 record over the Wolves.
 
SCOUTING WEST ALABAMA: Following the game against UWG, the Argonauts will visit West Alabama in Livingston... The Tigers are 6-3 on the season thus far with wins against six non-conference opponents and a 3-0 loss to North Alabama...  West Alabama joins Shorter as the only teams in the GSC with two of the top 10 student-athletes in totals kills, including kills leader Briana Sandifer and Yanesha Johnson... Callie Murphy has been one of the best setters in the country, recording a DII-leading 410 total assists and a GSC-best 10.25 assists per set through nine games... West Florida is 25-4 all-time against West Alabama and hasn't lost to the Tigers since 2009.
 
SCOUTING VALDOSTA STATE: VSU has been one of the toughest in-conference foes for UWF in recent history, with a 3-4 record against the Argonauts since 2013... Valdosta State got its conference schedule underway with a 3-0 win over Mississippi College on September 14... With a 3-5 record on the season, VSU has suffered losses to Southern Connecticut State and Sunshine State Conference opponents Barry and Lynn... VSU returns two All-GSC players from a year ago in Susanna Peonia and Natalia Campos... Peonia is third in the conference in kills per set (3.97) and ninth in digs (3.73), while Carly Smart (8.47) and Sarah Dandridge (5.95) each rank in the top 10 in the GSC in assists per set... UWF is 24-6 all-time against VSU.
 
GSC DOMINANCE: Since Melissa Wolter took over the UWF volleyball program prior to the 2003 season, West Florida has been nearly unstoppable in GSC play, owning a 151-21 record... Last year the Argonauts went 19-1 in GSC action, including a 10-0 mark at home... UWF heads into the 2016 with a 51-match winning streak during regular season home games against conference opponents... The last loss for UWF in
a GSC regular season home game came against North Alabama on October 24, 2009... UWF won six consecutive GSC Championships from 2008-2013... UWF currently owns the longest active streak of 20-win seasons in the GSC, which currently stands at 12 (not including 2004 season shortened by Hurricane Ivan)... Valdosta State and North Alabama are tied for the second longest active streak of 20-win seasons in the GSC at three... UWF has reached 10-consecutive NCAA South Regional Tournaments.
 
WITH A NEW UWF PRESIDENT: UWF president Dr. Judith Bense is retiring at the end of the year, and the West Florida volleyball team fared particularly well in years where presidents have been hired in the past... After Bense's hiring in 2008, UWF went 31-8 on the court and reached the Third Round of the NCAA Tournament... The team also won 32 consecutive sets in that season, with the streak starting against West Alabama on October 25 and stretching to November 22, in the last game of the season against Nova Southeastern.
 
For information on all UWF athletics, visit www.GoArgos.com.