PENSACOLA, Fla. – The University of West Florida volleyball program claimed its eighth Gulf South Conference championship with a 3-2 win over West Alabama in the UWF Field House Sunday afternoon. The victory was one of the team's most impressive efforts of the season and terrific play and fight by both of the teams. The Argos piled up 11 blocks and hit .152 as a team to earn the title.
For their weekend performances, Makila York, Mackenzie Chrisman and Nadine Williams were named to the GSC All-Tournament team, and Williams was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament after tallying 22 kills, hitting .184 over the two matches, and totaling 24 digs.
"When you go into today's match, we have one advantage. We had players on the team last year that were in the GSC final and that been in the regional final." Head Coach Melissa Wolter shared.
Makila York was a powerhouse of a hitter tonight with 17 kills hitting a .295. Following her was Jordyn Poppen with 13 kills and Williams with nine kills. On the defensive end, Taylor Vaneekeren and Logan Kael both led with 17 digs followed by Brogan Wallin with 13 digs. Caleigh Morrison and Makila York each recorded five blocks this match and each with one solo block and four assisted. Vaneekeren had 26 assists and Wallin recorded 10 assists.
Senior Mackenzie Chrisman played 33 points in the first set before going down with an injury. Chrisman had one kill and one block before injuring her knee. Phoebe Hozeska came in as the middle to finish out the match recording three blocks and two service aces.
"We have advantage with the depth that we have thankfully Phoebe has been in a ton of scenarios and has come off the bench and has started as well." Wolter continued,"I have complete faith that at any given moment that we can throw somebody in."
"Depth. Our team is so great and the girls have been so good at accepting their roles." senior Nadine Williams said. "The girls that don't play, just because you don't know their names, doesn't mean that they don't play a huge part for us and they make us better everyday and we could not be here without everyone."
The first set in the match would prove to be the closest. There was never more than a two point spread on the set. The Argos were the first to score and were the last to score. The Argos hit a .308 while the Tigers were not far behind them hitting a .282. Unfortunately for UWF, in the middle of this set is when senior Mackenzie Chrisman went down with a injury on the court that prevented her from finishing the rest of the match. UWF gained their two point lead at 22-20 where they held the lead and Makila York put the set away with a kill on the right-side 25-22.
The Tigers carried the momentum in the second until the Argos came to life after being tied 11-11. The set featured four blocks from UWF. The Tigers led in the start always being a point ahead. UWF came out of the timeout at 11-11 and lit up the court. Morrison was a part of two blocks in the set, but Williams solo block near the end of the Argos run lit a fire under the team. York put the set away once again for the Argos to win set two 25-21.
Set three went to the Tigers 25-22. West Alabama hit a .125 while the Argos hit a .000 with five kill, but five errors as well. The Tigers kept the lead from the start, but the Argos weren't going to just roll over. UWF fought back at the end to just nearly close the gap at UWA's set point, 24-22, but were unable to put the ball away.
The Tigers weren't going to go down without a fight in the match as they win 25-17 in set four and tied the match 2-2. The Tigers hit a .375 while the Argos hit a .048. UWF were unable to shut down UWA's runs as they took advantage of the Argos middle of the court. UWF had 16 digs led by Taylor Vaneekeren with five digs fighting to keep the ball alive.
UWF completed their victory with a 15-13 finale win. The Argos went on an early run going up 6-3 on a five point run. The teams switched side at 8-6 with UWF still on top. The two teams went point for point with each other up until it was set point for the Argos 14-10. The Tigers went on a three point final run before a final kill by Makila York won the championship.
The Argos have now won 7 matches in a row. Also UWF has now won the GSC Championship in back-to-back years last year in 2017 and this year. The Argonauts have won the 2018 GSC Championship and have earned an automatic bid into the NCAA Regional tournament.
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