PENSACOLA, Fla.- The No. 15 UWF volleyball team opened the 2018 season with two victories over top-10 opponents on the first day of the West Florida Invitational. UWF defeated No. 7 Regis in the morning before turning around for a 3-1 decision over No. 2 Southwest Minnesota State in the nightcap at the Hartsell Arena Friday. The Argonauts will head into day two against No. 24 Wheeling Jesuit and No. 5 Western Washington with a lot of momentum. Both matches will take place at the UWF Field House.
MATCH ONE:
#15 West Florida's opening game was against #7 Regis University where the Argos played 4 of the closest matches this weekend as the two teams were tied or within two points of each other majority of the time. The Argos won the first two sets, 25-21 and 26-24, but in the third set Regis had the upper hand. Regis took the third set 26-24 in a scrappy set. In set four, the Argos came out on top winning the set 25-21 and winning the match 3-1.
#15 UWF and #7 Regis played four long and scrappy sets which shows the level of play both of these teams are on and how conditioned and determined they are as well. Head Coach for UWF Melissa Wolter explained about the high level of play her team competes at. "It's incredible and our players love it. The players we recruit come from really high level programs themselves and they are used to playing hard to win an they are used to winning."
"What makes us so tough to play against is that our players buy into playing great competition because they love it."
Nadine Williams shined on the defensive end with 15 digs one of three solo blocks. Brogan Wallin, new starting setter for the Argos, showed she is an all around player with 35 assists, six digs, three block assists, and had four kills on seven attempts attacking with no errors allowing her to have the highest average with .571 attacking percentage. Mackenzie Chrisman was a strong presence on the net hitting a .474 with 11 kills on 19 attempts and only two errors. Chrisman also had three assist blocks and a solo block having a third of the teams blocks to herself.
MATCH TWO:
#15 West Florida Argonauts volleyball team battle against #2 Southwestern Minnesota State Mustangs in a head to head battle where the Argos prevailed in the end 3-1 overall. UWF volleyball nearly repeated game one, by winning the first two sets, 25-20 and 25-22, yet in the third set the Mustangs won 25-23. Finally the fourth set where the energy rose, the crowd was locked in, and the level of volleyball doubled and the UWF Argonauts came out to win and win they did 26-24 in set four.
This win over #2 SMSU is the highest ranked team UWF volleyball has beat since 2012 when the Argos beat Concordia St. Paul. This win was most certainly a team win with unbelievable team chemistry early on in the season.
Jordyn Poppen had a offensively strong game with 17 kills and 29 attempts and only one error for the match with a .552 hitting percentage. Also Caleigh Morrison rose on the offensive end with seven kills on 10 attempts with only one error along with two solo blocks and an assist block. One the defensive end of things, Williams again had the team high for digs with 17 in the match.
Tomorrow the #15 Argos will face #24 Wheeling Jesuit at 11:30 a.m. and then #5 Western Washington at 4:30 p.m. at the UWF Field House. Wolter explained what she is expecting and planning for tomorrow's matches.
"This whole tournament is about taking it one opponent at a time. I've never doubted this team and I think tonight was such a great exhibition of their belief in what they can be. So tomorrow we'll just take it one set at a time."
