PENSACOLA, Fla. – In the opening round of play in the NCAA South Regional Tournament, the University of West Florida Volleyball team came out victorious against the No. 8 seeded Spring Hill Badgers to secure their first NCAA Regional victory since the 2017 season.

As the No. 1 seed in this year's tournament, the Argonauts were able to fend off numerous Spring Hill runs throughout the match to including a set point in the second set en route to the win. The final set scores were 25-18, 27-25, and 25-23 with both teams trading blows throughout the match.

"Hats off to Spring Hill for their effort tonight," stated Head Coach Melissa Wolter. "I thought Spring Hill did a great job taking our blocking game out of the equation. Overall though I'm proud of the way the team responded to adversity tonight and I think we put on a great show in front of a huge crowd."

Finishing with four players in double-digit kill figures, it was the freshman Alex Oliver who led the team in kills tonight totaling 13 kills in the match. The outside hitter from Jasper, Ala. achieved this team high mark on an outstanding .571 hitting percentage which was also a team high.

Tyler Fezzey, Madi Cooler, and Veresia Yon were the other three West Florida players to reach the double-digit mark in kills in tonight's match helping the Argonauts connect on 12 more kills than the Badgers.

Setter, Taylor Vaneekeren, was another bright spot for West Florida both offensively and defensively picking up numerous assists and digs on the night. In total, Vaneekeren averaged 11.67 assists per set in the match as well as 7.67 digs per set which were both team highs.

"Taylor was just ridiculous tonight," says Wolter. "She's our quarterback, she sets the tone alongside Ashton for our defensive effort and her play tonight bled through to the rest of the team around her."

Advancing to the Round of 32 tomorrow, the Argonauts will now be in store to face No. 4 seed Embry-Riddle with a berth in the NCAA South Regional Championship on the line. This will be the first meeting of the season between these two teams and the second meeting all time with the Eagles getting the upper hand of the Argonauts in the 2019 season.

First serve is set for 7:30 pm at the UWF Field House with fans encouraged to come out early and show their support. Tickets can be bought at the door and if you will not be able to attend the match, a live stream can be viewed here as well as live stats here.

How to Follow the Argos: For complete information on UWF Volleyball, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook at @UWFVolleyball