LAKELAND, Fla. – The season came to an end for the University of West Florida volleyball team (30-7) Saturday evening in the NCAA Division II South Regional final vs. host Florida Southern (28-6). The Argos dropped a hard-fought regional championship match to the Mocs 3-1 despite 17 kills and three blocks from Rachel Neblett and 16 kills from Nadine Williams.
"I thought that we had a really good game plan. The girls came in super fired up, very confident, and they knew what they wanted. But Florida Southern is good. They're very good," said head coach Melissa Wolter. "Their ball control and just the way they continue to grind through plays is something we usually do to other teams, and I think they found a way to do that to us tonight. Even in point for point situations, we couldn't get that necessary lead that we wanted, specifically in that third set."
The Argos won the first set of the evening 25-22. UWF began the set on an 8-3 run and never trailed after falling behind initially 1-0. The Argos outhit the Mocs .325 to .250 in the set, forcing seven errors while committing just two. Neblett piled up two blocks, two kills and a service ace in the opener. Williams added four kills and one block.
The Mocs took the second by a final of 25-17. The hosts broke a 9-9 tie with an 11-5 run that left them with a 20-14 lead. Florida Southern outhit the Argos .667 to .458 in the second. The Argos committed just one error in the set.
Florida Southern would go on to win the third 25-23. With the score tied 20-20, the home team went on a 5-3 run that put them up 2-1 in the match. The Mocs would win the fourth 25-20.
Monique StCyr finished with the second-most assists in a single match in her four-year UWF career, piling up 61. She registered 124 assists over the final two matches of the tournament. Jordyn Poppen finished the match with 10 kills. Logan Kael led the Argos with 16 digs. Caleigh Morrison posted eight kills.
The Mocs were led by South Region player of the year Nicole Mattson, who notched 19 kills and 12 digs. FSC, which entered the contest as the 1-seed in the South Region and the No. 21 team in the country, will now advance the NCAA Division II Volleyball Championship, hosted by UWF at the UWF Field House Dec. 7-9.
The GSC champion Argos finish the season with a 30-7 record. 2017 marked the fourth time in school history that the team has won 30 games in a season.
"We have dreamed of winning this regional for years, and we're back. It's been a long time since we've been sitting in this seat, and one day we will in it, and these guys are going to be in the gym when it happens," Wolter said, referring to graduating seniors Neblett, StCyr and Katy Kuhlmeier. "And they'll be as happy as they would have been tonight."
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