WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The season came to an end for the University of West Florida volleyball team (25-8) Thursday evening in the NCAA Division II South Regional vs. Florida Southern (22-10). The Argos dropped a hard-fought match to the Mocs 3-1 despite 15 kills and four blocks from Caleigh Morrison and 13 kills from Jordyn Poppen.
"Playing and winning the conference tournament is really what prepared us for this match. West AL is a great opponent and they fought hard and they taught us to fight back the same way and I think that mainly helped us when we were in tough positions out there and instead of giving up, we fought hard every single time," Makila York said in regards to the preparation of the match.
The Argos lost the first set of the evening 25-19. The two teams played back-and-forth with each other up until the set was tied 10-10. The Mocs went on a four point run making it a 14-10 lead. UWF broke the run with a kill by Phoebe Hozeska and then went of a four point run of their own tying the set 14-14. Shortly after, the Argos gained a two point lead 17-15 with a kill by Morrison. FSC was not going to roll over and came back and tied the set 18-18 and from here on, first the Mocs went on a three point run that was broken by a missed serve, then followed it with a five point run to end the set 25-19.
The Mocs took the second by a final of 25-14. UWF was first on the board to score in this set as well and led 2-0 to start. The Argos next run would be at 11-18 where they score two in a row making it 13-18. FSC never gave up the lead from 3-3. The Mocs would end the set with another long run of six to close the set.
West Florida would go on to win the third 25-23 and live to play another set. UWF trailed 3-7 before kicking into gear and coming out to fight. This set wasn't filled with long runs but the Argos would go on a run of two and the Mocs would be one and done. West Florida closed the gap and tied the set at 16-16 with a kill by Nadine Williams. They then gain the two point lead with a kill from Poppen making it 19-17. The Mocs tried to comeback and tied the set 23-23. UWF would go to score the next two points off of a FSC service error and a kill from Williams.
Set four would be the most competitive and well played sets of the match. The Argos started the set in a three point hole that stretched to a five point hole 2-7 shortly after. UWF answered back going on several runs to tie the set 10-10. UWF gained their first two point lead this set with a kill by Caleigh Morrison and an error on FSC making it 12-10 Argos. FSC turned the set around on the next run scoring four. The two teams traded points with each other until the Argos held the lead 24-21 with one point to go. The Mocs came back with a four point run to lead by one 25-24. Two back-to-back kills by Poppen would give the Argos the lead by one 26-25, but the Argos would not be able to capitalize on the lead and FSC went on a three point run to win the set 28-26 and win the match 3-1.
The Argos were offensively led by Caleigh Morrison with 15 kills followed by Poppen with 13 kills and Williams with 10 kills. Freshman Taylor Vaneekeren recorded two aces and 39 assists for the match. Defensively UWF was led by Williams with 19 digs followed by Logan Kael with 17 digs. Morrison led in blocks with four followed by Kierra Potts with three and Marissa Hackett with two blocks.
The Mocs were led by Nicole Mattson, who notched 22 kills and 4 blocks. FSC, which entered the contest as the 4-seed in the South Region.
The West Florida Argos finish the season with a 25-8 record. UWF finishes with another undefeated home record in conference play and as the 2018 GSC Conference Champions. The Argos had three seniors finished their volleyball career tonight including, Nadine Williams, Mackenzie Chrisman, and Makila York who all came to West Florida as transfers. Head Coach Melissa Wolter shared more about the seniors. "It's been incredible to watch them become the human beings that they are. Each one of these three will be so special to me forever."
#ARGOS#
