PENSACOLA, Fla. – The University of West Florida volleyball team came out in full force in its season-opener against Wheeling Jesuit, taking a 3-1 win in the UWF Field House on Thursday night against the 2015 DII National Champions in front of a crowd of 251 fans. The final matches last year's opener to the Hampton Inn-Vitational, a 3-1 UWF win over Findlay.
 
Thursday marked UWF's fourth win over a ranked opponent in the last calendar year, with the first of those coming against No. 8 Lewis at the Colorado Premier Challenge last September 10, and the last coming against Gulf South Conference rival No. 25 North Alabama in the NCAA Tournament.
 
Senior outside hitter Rachel Neblett led all players with 17 kills on the night, and she was followed by sophomore Jordyn Poppen and newcomer Taylor Hall, who each had 12 kills. Mackenzie Chrisman hit an outstanding .889 in her Argonaut debut, with eight kills in nine swings.
 
That group got help from UWF all-time assist leader Monique StCyr and Brogan Wallin, who had 37 and 18 assists, respectively. Defensively, newcomers Logan Kael and Nadine Williams led the way for West Florida, tallying double-digit digs.
 
As well as UWF played throughout the match, it was Wheeling Jesuit that jumped out to an 18-13 lead in the first set. West Florida had no trouble bouncing back and went on an 11-2 run, ultimately winning the first set on a block from freshmen Caleigh Morrison and Ashlan Riley.
 
The tables turned in the second set, with UWF getting out to the hot start and WJU squaring things up at 10-10, before taking a 25-21 win. West Florida kept it close, getting a pair of kills from Neblett and Hall in the middle of the set, before Wheeling pulled away for the set win.
 
The teams went back-and-forth in the third, staying even until UWF pulled ahead 19-13. Neblett and Poppen each had a set-best six kills in the third, followed closely by Chrisman with five.
 
UWF left no doubt in the fourth set and never trailed on the way to a 25-19 set win. A four-point run to end the match included a Neblett kill, an ace from Peru national Barbara Briceno and a block from Williams and Neblett.
 
The Argonauts outplayed WJU in every facet of the match on Thursday, outhitting the Cardinals .264-.234, picking up nine blocks to Wheeling's seven, and tallying eight aces to Wheeling's zero. StCyr and Briceno led all players with two aces each.
 
West Florida faces South Carolina-Aiken at 11:30 a.m. and Southern Indiana at 6 p.m. in the Field House on Friday.