PENSACOLA, Fla. – The 15th-ranked University of West Florida volleyball team swept Valdosta State on Saturday afternoon, improving to 12-4 on the year and 4-1 in the Gulf South Conference. UWF hit .322 for the day, while holding VSU (6-11, 2-3 GSC) to a .206 attack percentage.
 
Led offensively by Nadine Williams and Makila York, who each had 12 kills in the match, West Florida cruised to easy victories in the first two sets, winning 25-17 and 25-18, respectively. York hit .435, going 12-23 with just 2 errors, and Mackenzie Chrisman added 10 kills with a .474 hitting percentage. Jordyn Poppen picked up 10 kills in the victory, giving her double-digit kills in 12 of this year's 15 matches.
 
UWF charged out to a 13-5 lead in the first set, which was capped off by a Taylor Vaneekeren service ace, before Valdosta State spent its final timeout of the set. Six different Argonauts recorded at least one kill in the set, and UWF hit an even .400 in the opening frame.
 
The second set showed an even more dominant effort from the Argos, as the team hit .406 and held VSU to just a .143 attack percentage. Early runs of four and five points to start the set and give UWF a 9-2 lead would be too much for VSU to overcome. Williams picked up five of her kills in the set, and York added four.
 
It was VSU that got off to the hot start in the third and final set, going ahead 8-1 early on. But UWF then went on a 12-5 run to cut the deficit to just two points, and forcing a tie at 13-13. From there, it was a back-and-forth set, with each team tallying just a single run of three consecutive points for the rest of the match. Tied at 24, UWF got big kills from York and Chrisman to wrap up the match and give West Florida the 26-24 set win.
 
To no surprise, West Florida was strong at the net again on Saturday. Chrisman tallied six blocks – marking her seventh match this year with at least that many and giving her a GSC-best 71 for the season – and JoDee Kovanda had four, as the Argonauts out-blocked VSU 8-7.
 
Logan Kael led all players with 14 digs, while setter Taylor Vaneekeren added 9, and Williams had 8. Vaneekeren also led the Argonuats with 25 assists, followed by Brogan Wallin's 14.
 
West Florida will host Montevallo on Thursday, September 27.