NOTES
STATS
 
PENSACOLA, Fla. – The University of West Florida volleyball team continues its tradition of playing elite Division II competition this weekend, heading to Denver for the Colorado Premier Challenge for the ninth time. The Argonauts stand at 3-1 after hosting the Hampton Inn-Vitational last weekend.
 
UWF will play No. 1 and defending national champion Concordia St. Paul at 11 am MT on Friday and No. 3 Lewis at 2:30 pm MT on Friday. The Argonauts will also play two matches on Saturday, with opponents and times for those matches to be determined.
 
Live stats will be provided for each game by staffs at Metro State University and Regis University.
 
THE COLORADO PREMIER CHALLENGE
* UWF has visited Denver for the Colorado Premier Challenge in eight of the last nine years, with a combined record of 15-17 in that time.
* UWF kicks off the weekend with a match against No. 1 Concordia St. Paul at 11:00 am MT and will follow that with a contest against No. 3 Lewis at 2:30 pm MT. Opponents for matches on Saturday will be determined after Friday's action.
* As usual, the field at the Colorado Premier Challenge is filled with teams ranked in the top 25, including No. 1 Concordia St. Paul, No. 2 Southwest Minnesota State, No. 3 Lewis, No. 6 Angelo State, No. 8 Ferris State, No. 16 Central Missouri, No. 17 Tarleton State, No. 20 Tampa, and four teams that are receiving votes in the AVCA poll. Every team at the tournament is ranked or receiving votes.
 
NEARING 350
* With three wins over the season's opening weekend, head coach Melissa Wolter reached 349 career wins at UWF. When the Argos earn another win, Wolter will be just the fifth coach in GSC volleyball history to pick up No. 350.
* She currently ranks in the top 30 in Division II in total victories and winning percentage among active coaches, when including her three years at Wisconsin-Parkside. Counting only her winning percentage at UWF, Wolter would rank 19th in Division II among active coaches, with a .741 winning percentage.
* Wolter paces active GSC coaches in both wins and winning percentage, and those in second place are not particularly close. Wolter's 349 career wins are 37 more than Stephanie Radecki's 312, and her .743 winning percentage at UWF is 91 points higher than the next-highest finisher.
 
SWEET HARDWARE
* Following standout performances at the 2017 Hampton Inn-Vitational at the UWF Field House, University of West Florida senior Rachel Neblett and freshman Logan Kael have earned weekly Gulf South Conference awards.
* Neblett was named the GSC Offensive Player of the Week, and Kael was named the GSC Freshman of the Week.
* It is the second such honor for Neblett, who hit .433 over the weekend and totaled double-digit kills in three of the four matches UWF played. She also picked up the second-most blocks (15) and service aces (8) of anyone in the tournament, and led UWF with 15 total blocks and averaged more than a block per set.
* Kael, a graduate of Bearden HS in Knoxville, Tennessee, earned Freshman of the Week honors from the conference after averaging 4.93 digs per set. That total ranks third among all players in the GSC after a week of play, and it was the fourth-most among players in last week's Hampton Inn-Vitational.
 
ABOUT LAST WEEKEND
* The Argos took three wins against elite Division II competition at the 2017 Hampton Inn-Vitational and nearly pulled off a win over No. 2 Southwest Minnesota State.
* In addition to Neblett and Kael's award-winning efforts on the court, West Florida got 8.0 assists per set from UWF career assist leader Monique StCyr, more than 3.0 points per set from Jordyn Poppen, Nadine Williams and Mackenzie Chrisman, and a combined 32 blocks over the four matches.
* The win over No. 11 Wheeling Jesuit marked the highest-ranked opponent UWF has beaten since last season, when the Argonauts beat then-No. 8 Lewis at the Colorado Premier Challenge. UWF and Lewis face off again on Friday, with the Flyers holding the No. 3 spot in DII.