PENSACOLA, Fla. – The University of West Florida volleyball team picked up wins against South Carolina-Aiken and Southern Indiana on the second day of the Hampton Inn-Vitational at the UWF Field House on Friday, with two clean sweeps over the opposition.
 
Rachel Neblett led UWF with 21 kills and 9 blocks and hit .686 on Friday, but she was far from the only high-performing Argonaut on the offensive end of the floor. Juniors Nadine Williams and Mackenzie Chrisman combined for 35 kills and just 8 errors, while adding 6 blocks. Sophomore Jordyn Poppen tallied 17 kills across the two matches, while finishing the day with 17 digs – behind only freshman Logan Kael, who had 24.
 
And like on Thursday night, Monique StCyr and Brogan Wallin each had double-digit assists in the two contests, with StCyr's 43 leading the way.
 
Match 1: UWF 3, USC-Aiken 0
The first sweep of the day came against the Pacers from South Carolina-Aiken, which UWF held to just a .115 hitting percentage across three sets. Neblett led UWF with 13 kills and 6 blocks, and UWF again out-blocked the competition, 8-4.
 
Perhaps the most impressive part of UWF's win were the two combined attack errors for the Argonauts in the first two sets. For comparison, UWF forced 8 attack errors for USCA in the first set and 10 more in the second, while holding the Pacers to a .054 attack percentage as a team and hitting .406 in the first two frames.
 
The match was filled with strong runs from the Argonauts, including one during which UWF won 9 of 13 points to take the first set 25-18. Neblett picked up seven kills in the first set, and the first three of those were UWF's first points of the day.
 
Following a quick run from USCA to take the first points of the second set, West Florida bounced back with 4-0 and 5-0 runs early on to take a 9-6 lead. That 4-0 run was a result of solid defense in the middle from the Argonauts, as the Pacers committed four consecutive attack errors. Several Argos jumped in on the offense in the second set, with Neblett, Taylor Hall, Williams and Chrisman each picking up multiple kills.
 
USCA held tight for the first 11 points of the final set, trailing just 5-6 before UWF went on an 8-0 run that nearly put the match out of reach for good. While the Pacers bounced back later in the set, West Florida scored six of the final eight points of the first game, with two kills from Chrisman and one each from Hall and Kael.
 
Match 2: UWF 3, Southern Indiana 0
UWF took another clean sweep to wrap up Day 2 of the Hampton Inn-Vitational, and the Argonauts have won 9 of the 10 sets they have played this season. Williams had the kills lead in the match, with 14, and she was followed closely by Neblett (12) and Poppen (11). StCyr, Wallin, and Kael contributed 48 combined assists over the three-set match, out-helping USI 48-28.
 
And UWF dominated at the net for a third consecutive match, outblocking USI 6-4. The West Florida offense was even better in the second match of the day, hitting .432 overall and hitting an even .500 in the final frame.
 
Neither team could make a big move in the first part of the match, totaling eight ties by the time the score read 10-10. From there, it was the UWF Show, and West Florida rallied off nine consecutive points to effectively end the set.
 
UWF got out to a quicker lead in the second set, going up 5-1 and staying four-to-five points ahead for the majority of the set, which the Argonauts won 25-18. The final frame was all UWF, and Poppen, Neblett, Williams and Chrisman each picked up at least four kills.
 
West Florida wraps up its run at the Hampton Inn-Vitational on Saturday with a match against No. 2 Southwest Minnesota State at 3:30 pm in the UWF Field House.