FORT SMITH, Ark. – The Argonauts opened the Carr Racop Invitational with back-to-back wins over Northwest Missouri State and Missouri Western Friday, taking each match by a final of 3-1 to improve to 6-4 on the season. The team has now won three straight matches and will look to stay perfect at the Carr Racop with two more matches tomorrow.
Rachel Neblett shone for the Argos, registering 37 kills in 2 matches. She put up an eye-popping .483 hitting percentage in the team's first match of the day vs. Northwest Missouri State. Monique StCyr enjoyed an outstanding day as well, resetting her season-high in assists in each of the matches on her way to 97 for the day. She also accumulated 17 digs.
Match 1: UWF 3, Northwest Missouri State 1
UWF raced out to a 15-9 lead in the first set and did not allow the lead to dip below 3 in notching a 25-21 opening win. The Argos registered 2 blocks and forced 3 attack errors. The Argos fell behind 4-2 to start the set but rallied for 5 straight points and did not trail the rest of the way.
Rachel Neblett scored 6 points and registered 5 kills in the opening set. Monique StCyr accumulated 14 assists. Nadine Williams had 10 digs. The Argos registered 2 blocks and forced 3 attack errors.
Northwest built an early lead in the second at 13-10 and continued to a hot streak in the middle of the set to push ahead 20-17. After a timeout, UWF came out strong, assuming a 25-24 lead before the Bearcats came out strong from a timeout of their own to claim the set 27-25. The Argos picked up 3 blocks in the 2nd set. Jordyn Poppen racked up 4 kills.
Neblett keyed a furious rally in the third, tallying 8 kills to help UWF overcome a 13-4 deficit and take the set by a final of 28-26. The team closed the set on a 9-4 run to assure the victory. A service ace by Neblett put UWF up 18-17 and her clutch kills put the team ahead 25-24, 26-25, and 27-26.
After a close couple of middle sets, the Argos ran away with a 25-15 closing set to seal a 3-1 win. Neblett finished with a season-high 20 kills, 3 service aces and a .483 hitting percentage. Poppen finished with 12 kills and Courtney Markes added 9. Williams ended the 1st match with a season-best 32 digs. Monique StCyr set her season-high with 44 assists. Logan Kael had 4 aces. The Argos notched 63 assists, their highest total of the year for a match that lasted less than 5 sets.
Match 2: UWF 3, Missouri Western 1
Neblett stayed red hot to open the closing match of the day, posting 5 kills in the first set vs. Missouri Western. Jordyn Poppen posted 5 kills of her own, and Monique StCyr picked up 14 assists as the Argos scored a 25-19 first set victory. The team fell behind 4-1 but roared back to score 23 of the next 38 points.
Nadine Williams picked up 6 digs and 5 kills to power a second set victory 25-21. Neblett added six more kills to her growing total. The Argos closed the set on a 19-12 run for another comfortable victory.
UWF raced out to a 6-0 lead in the third set but could not withstand a furious Griffons rally. Missouri Western outscored the Argos 25-15 after falling behind early to make the match 2-1.
Markes and Caleigh Morrison each scored early kills to help the Argos build another early lead at 5-0 in the fourth. Markes registered 3 kills as the team built its lead to 9-3. Three straight kills by Neblett helped to douse a Missouri Western rally later in the set after the Griffons cut the lead down to 15-12. The Argonauts finished with a 25-21 fourth set victory to close the day.
Monique StCyr finished with 53 assists, resetting her season-high once again and narrowly missing her career-high of 59. Williams racked up a double-double with 25 digs and 12 kills. It was her fourth double-double this season. Neblett finished with 17 kills and 5 digs. Poppen added 12 kills. The Argos piled up a season-high 9 blocks for the fourth time this year.
UWF continues with the Carr Racop Invitational tomorrow at 2:00 pm vs. Newman and concludes play vs. host Arkansas - Fort Smith at 7:00 pm.
#ARGOS#
