FRIDAY: STATS | VIDEO
SATURDAY: STATS | VIDEO
PENSACOLA, Fla. – UWF volleyball (24-6, 14-0 GSC) will host Lee (18-8, 9-5 GSC) and Shorter (17-9, 10-4 GSC) to close the regular season this weekend. The Argos clinched the GSC regular season crown Tuesday at AUM and now look to close their perfect conference record intact ahead of the GSC tournament, which will be held November 17-19 in the UWF Field House.
The No. 20 Argos will battle Lee Friday at 5:00 pm. The contest will be Senior Night for the program, with Monique StCyr, Rachel Neblett and Katy Kuhlmeier set to be honored. Saturday's 1:00 pm match vs. Shorter will be the program's annual Parents' Day.
While the regular season title is already in hand, on the line will be the fourth undefeated GSC regular season for head coach Melissa Wolter and, potentially, the best conference regular season in her already historic tenure as the Argos head coach.
GSC REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS
* No. 20 UWF was nearly flawless in 3-0 win at Auburn-Montgomery Friday night as they clinched the Gulf South Conference regular-season title. The Argonauts clinched the crown with a 25-13, 25-14, 25-13 decision at the AUM Athletics Complex.
* Sophomore Jordyn Poppen had nine kills while junior Nadine Williams registered eight for UWF. Williams and freshman Logan Kael led the team with 13 digs each.
* The Argos are pursuing their fourth undefeated GSC regular season under head coach Melissa Wolter. The team went 12-0 in both 2007 and 2008 and most recently went 14-0 in 2011. If the team finishes the regular season with wins vs. Lee and Shorter, the GSC regular season record will be the best in UWF history.
* Regardless of the outcome of this weekend's matches, UWF will continue a streak of losing no more than three regular season conference matches since going 9-5 in 2003.
* The GSC regular season title is the program's 10th overall and the 10th in the last 11 seasons.
SCOUTING LEE
* UWF volleyball swept Lee University October 28. The team cruised to a 3-0 victory behind 14 kills and nine digs from Rachel Neblett and 13 kills from Jordyn Poppen. The win was the fifth straight for UWF and helped the team to improve to 8-0 in away matches this year.
* Lee checks into this weekend with a 18-8 overall record and a 9-5 mark in GSC play. Since falling to UWF on October 28, the team has gone 2-1, dropping a 3-2 decision vs. Shorter on October 31 before rebounding with a 3-0 win vs. West Georgia on November 3 and a 3-2 victory vs. Montevallo on November 4.
* Lee was picked to finish sixth in the preseason poll of GSC coaches. The team had one selection to the preseason All-GSC team: Silvia Sartori. Lee finished 2016 with a 15-15 overall record and a 10-10 record in conference play. The team is 4-4 on the road so far this year.
* Sartori currently ranks second in the GSC in kills with 3.73 per set. She ranks eighth with 0.38 service aces per set and is third in the GSC in points with 4.20 per set. MaKayla Beebe ranks third in the conference with 5.05 digs per set. Alex Reuter is tied for ninth with 0.36 service aces per set. Ellisia Kimble ranks tenth in the conference with a .283 hitting percentage.
* Lee leads the GSC with 18.03 digs per set. The Lady Flames rank fourth in the GSC with a .213 hitting percentage and third with 13.35 kills per set. Lee is third with 12.39 assists per set.
* UWF is 7-2 vs. Lee since 2013 and is 4-0 at home vs. the Lady Flames in the same span. The Argos had a six match head-to-head winning streak snapped during October 2016 in a 3-2 loss in Cleveland before downing Lee less than two weeks ago in Tennessee.
SCOUTING SHORTER
* UWF earned a 3-0 victory to start a weekend road trip at Shorter October 27. Rachel Neblett enjoyed an outstanding evening, posting 14 kills and two service aces while hitting .632. Jordyn Poppen added ten kills, and Monique StCyr registered 39 assists, nine digs and one service ace as the Argos powered past the Lady Hawks.
* Shorter currently stands at 17-9 overall and 10-4 in GSC play. Since falling 3-0 to UWF on October 27, Shorter has won four straight, notching wins vs. Valdosta State, Lee, Montevallo, and West Georgia. The team's last two victories have each been sweeps.
* Shorter was selected to finish 3rd in the preseason poll by GSC coaches. The team had one selection to the All-GSC preseason team: Tiffani Estep. Shorter finished tied for the best record in the GSC during the 2016 regular season at 22-7 and 17-3 in conference play.
* Shorter leads the conference in service aces per set (1.82) and is third in the GSC in blocks per set (2.08). The Lady Hawks are second in opponent blocks per set (1.39) and third in opponent service aces per set (1.15).
* Annie Homan leads the conference with 0.48 service aces per set. Estep ranks third in the GSC with a .347 hitting percentage. Kelsi Jones is tied for eighth with a .294 hitting percentage. Estep is second in blocks with 1.06 per set. She is ninth in the conference at 3.50 points per set. She is tenth with 2.79 kills per set. Cheyenne Mclemore is fifth with 4.51 digs per set.
CURRENT GSC/NCAA LEADERS
* Rachel Neblett ranks second in the GSC with a .426 hitting percentage. Jordyn Poppen ranks tied for eighth in the conference with a .294 hitting percentage.
* In the GSC, Neblett ranks sixth with 3.40 kills per set. Neblett is second with 0.45 service aces per set. She is second with 4.40 points per set.
* Monique StCyr ranks second in the GSC with 9.68 assists per set.
* In the GSC, Morrison ranks fifth with 0.97 blocks per set. Neblett ranks sixth with 0.93 blocks per set.
* Logan Kael is eighth in the GSC in digs with 3.94 per set.
* UWF leads the GSC with a .260 hitting percentage. UWF also leads the conference in assists per set (13.30), kills per set (14.20), blocks per set (2.10), and opponent service aces (0.80). The Argos are second in the GSC with 11.16 opponent kills per set. UWF is third with 11.30 opponent digs per set and tied for third in opponent hitting percentage (.161).
* As of November 3, Rachel Neblett ranked fifth in NCAA Division II volleyball with a .421 hitting percentage. She ranked 50th in total kills with 348.
* As of November 3, UWF ranks first nationally with 1498 kills. The team ranks 13th nationally with 14.13 kills per set. UWF ranks 14th with 223 total blocks. The squad checks in at 29th with a .793 winning percentage.
GSC DOMINANCE
* UWF has clinched the GSC regular season crown, the tenth title in program history. UWF currently owns the longest winning streak in the GSC at seven straight matches.
* 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 182-24 record. Last year the Argonauts went 17-3 in GSC action and 10-0 at home. UWF currently has a 68-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 13 (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 11 consecutive NCAA South Regional Tournaments.
STCYR PURSUES SERVICE ACES RECORD
* Monique StCyr has posted 24 service aces in the 2017 season, drawing her within six of the current all-time career record-holder Jessica Bragion, who accumulated 165 from 2002-2005. StCyr is already the all-time career assists leader at UWF, checking in with 3,337 to begin the year and adding 939 this season. She is the first Argo to eclipse 4,000 assists in a career.
UWF CAREER SERVICE ACES
165 - Jessica Bragion (2002-2005)
159 - Monique StCyr (2014-present)
133 - Jerica Carter (2005-2008)
102 - Melina Pereira (2003, 2005-2006)
101 - Chelsea Wilhoite (2007-2010)
101 - Naiara Fernandes (2005-2006)
94 - Autumn Duyn (2012-2015)
92 - Lindsay Homme (2009-2013)
88 - Kristy Krause (2000-2003)
87 - Tori Martella (2013-2016)
79 - Haley Shackelford (2011-2012)
NEBLETT ON TRACK FOR ATTACK PERCENTAGE RECORD
* Rachel Neblett finished second in UWF history in 2016 in attack percentage with a mark of .354. She currently owns an attack percentage of .426 in 2017. If maintained, this would be the all-time most efficient mark for a single-season in UWF history.
ATTACK PERCENTAGE (K/E/TA) (Minimum 500 attacks)
.376 (505/118/1028) - Kristy Krause (2003)
.354 (276/74/570) - Rachel Neblett (2016)
.348 (316/82/672) - Kathryn Torre (2016)
.333 (499/150/1082) - Isabela Gualberto (2007)
.329 (249/65/559) - Kathryn Torre (2015)
.326 (387/101/878) - Lindsay Homme (2011)
.319 (364/98/834) – Patricia Gandolfo (2008)
.316 (504/139/1155) - Kristy Krause (2002)
.305 (374/102/893) - Patricia Gandolfo (2009)
.303 (325/90/775) - Kara Gonzalez (2010)
.301 (394/116/924) - Luciana Rapach (2007)
.297 (318/112/693) - Ayana Stewart (2003)
ARGOS PURSUE TEAM ATTACK PERCENTAGE RECORD
* 2017 will prove to be one of the most efficient attacking seasons in UWF history. The squad currently owns a .260 attack percentage for the 2017 season, a mark that puts them exactly on pace with the 2016 squad, which finished with the second-most efficient season in school history. If the pace is maintained, the program will enjoy its best back-to-back attack percentage seasons in school history.
ATTACK PERCENTAGE, K/E/TA
.264 (1699/590/4199) (2003)
.260 (1791/585/4640) (2016)
.254 (1924/693/4855) (2010)
.248 (2167/780/5590) (2007)
.247 (1812/634/4761) (2012)
.244 (1687/611/4366) (2011)
.241 (1783/649/4713) (2008)
.236 (1498/568/3939) (2014)
.233 (1638/624/4357) (2015)
.233 (1769/677/4696) (2009)
.233 (1584/615/4152) (2002)
.220 (1812/711/5014) (2013)
#ARGOS#
