FORT SMITH, Ark. – UWF Volleyball swept their two matches at the Carr Racop Invitational Saturday, downing Newman and Arkansas - Fort Smith, both by finals of 3-0. The 8-4 Argos finished the Carr Racop a perfect 4-0, winning 12 of 14 sets overall and 7 straight to close the tournament.
Rachel Neblett, who hit over .400 in every match and totaled 66 kills Friday and Saturday, was named tournament MVP. Courtney Markes and Monique StCyr were also named to the All-Carr Racop tournament team. Markes racked up 37 kills and 45 digs in 4 matches. StCyr finished the weekend with 183 assists.
Match 1: UWF 3, Newman 0
UWF came out strong from the outset vs. Newman, racing to a 14-9 lead on the strength of 4 service aces from Neblett and 4 kills from Caleigh Morrison. Newman rallied to take a 22-21 lead before a late UWF surge to win the set. A kill by Neblett kept UWF alive by tying the set at 25, and a kill from Markes plus back-to-back errors by Newman helped the Argos take the set 28-26.
Morrison and Neblett each registered 5 kills, and StCyr had 14 assists in the set. Sarah Hayman and Logan Kael each ended up with 5 digs in the set.
UWF once again assumed an early lead in the 2nd set, jumping out to a 6-1 advantage with the help of 3 Neblett kills. The lead grew as large as 11 and never shrank lower than 4 as the team cruised to a 25-15 win. Markes led the way with 6 kills and 5 digs in the set. StCyr added 15 more assists. UWF forced 12 Newman attack errors and racked up 6 total blocks through the first two sets.
The Argos built a 20-14 lead in the third before a late Newman charge tightened the set up at 20-18. Neblett helped to regain breathing room with kills that took the lead to 23-20 before the team sealed the set 25-22 on a Morrison kill.
Neblett finished with 13 kills plus 5 service aces. She registered a .591 hitting percentage for the match. Morrison also finished with 13 kills and added 6 block assists. Hayman, Kael and Marks all had 13 digs. Markes notched a double-double by piling up 10 kills. StCyr finished with 42 assists.
Match 2: UWF 3, UAFS 0
UWF closed the tournament vs. host Arkansas - Fort Smith and picked up where they left off against Newman, taking the first set 25-20. The team put together a 16-8 run after falling behind 3-0 out of the gate. Markes and Morrison combined to score 4 of the last 5 points for UWF before a kill by Neblett ended the first.
The team scored the final 4 points of the second set after getting out to a 21-17 lead. StCyr set up kills by Taylor Hall, Williams and Neblett, with Hayman picking up a service ace in the final run that resulted in a 25-17 win.
Up 2-0, the Argos faced a tighter third set from the home team. Another ace by Hayman put the Argos up 24-22, but the Lions rallied back to tie the finale at 24. A kill from Jordyn Poppen regained the lead for the Argonauts before Markes put the contest to rest at 26-24 with a kill of her own.
Hayman totaled 3 service aces plus 12 digs in the final match. Kael led the team with 24 digs. StCyr added 44 assists. Neblett had 16 kills. Hall posted 9. Markes narrowly missed another double-double, going for 12 digs and 8 kills.
The Argos open GSC play on Tuesday vs. Montevallo. Action at the UWF Field House is slated to begin at 7:00 pm.
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