PENSACOLA, Fla. – After picking up their first conference win of the season in Valdosta on Tuesday, the now 12-1 University of West Florida Volleyball team will be back at home this Friday and Saturday taking on Auburn Montgomery and West Georgia from the UWF Field House.
In their first home action in nearly three weeks, West Florida will have lots of great action and fun activities for fans and students alike.
Friday's match against Auburn Montgomery will be the Argonauts annual Black Out match with the first 100 students receiving free black t-shirts. In addition to the shirts, glow sticks will also be handed out to fans to add to the atmosphere and create one of the coolest match day scenes in college volleyball.
About West Florida: The Argonauts, who have now won seven straight matches, will look to carry their momentum into this weekend when they face two more tough conference opponents from the Field House.
Running one of the most productive offenses in the nation, West Florida ranks at the top or near the top of many national and conference categories both as a team and as individual players.
One of these players includes
Veresia Yon who was recently named as the AVCA National Player of the Week as well as the GSC Offensive Player of the Week after having a great weekend from the FMU Invitational. Ranking first in the conference and fourth in the nation in hitting %, Yon has been a big impact from the middle of the court including a season-high 22 kills in her last outing at Valdosta State.
Taylor Vaneekeren has been a great director of the Argonaut offense through the first three weeks of the season ranking first in the GSC in assists per set and within the top 30 of the nation in total assists. The Junior setter also has been very efficient connecting on dump plays this season including totaling a career-high eight kills against the Blazers on Tuesday for the most kills by a setter since the 2015 season.
Defensively, the Argonauts have also been the top blocking team in the nation averaging the most blocks per set in the country and ranking second in total team blocks. This blocking efficiency is led by the West Florida middles,
Jenna Zydlo and Yon, who each rank in the top 50 in blocks per set in the nation.
About Auburn Montgomery: The Warhawks enter Friday's matchup with an 8-5 record overall including a 1-0 mark in conference play after beating West Georgia this past Tuesday.
Like West Florida, Auburn Montgomery runs a very efficient offense where they spread the ball to all areas of the court. Currently third in both assists and kills within the conference, this Warhawk offense has some serious firepower when at full force.
Offensively, the Warhawks are led by Nyah Whittlesey and Keren Santana who each have well over 100 kills already on the season. Senior, Isadora Nicolai has handled setting duties for much of the season averaging 7.44 assists per set on the year.
On the defensive side of the ball, Auburn Montgomery has three players with over 20 blocks on the year and are paced by Freshman middle, Ylenia De Mango who has 28 kills in just 13 matches played.
About West Georgia: Coming off of a 2-2 weekend last weekend as well as a loss to Auburn Montgomery on Tuesday, the Wolves will head to Pensacola with a record of 6-4 overall.
On offense, West Georgia is led by Junior middle Tierra White who currently is ranked within the top ten of the conference in many categories. With 133 kills totaled already this season, White currently ranks fifth in the GSC in kills, sixth in points, and ninth in hitting percentage.
Defensively, the Wolves have had solid play from Libero Sydney Blackmon who is currently second in the conference in digs per set. As a team, West Georgia leads the conference in digs per set with a 17.12 average while also ranking sixth in the GSC in blocks per set with a 1.72 average.
Schedule for the Weekend: On Friday, first serve is set for 6 pm (CST) from the UWF Field House with fans and students encouraged to show up early to receive the giveaways. Saturday's match is set to take place at 1 pm (CST) so come on down before the football game at 6 pm and make your day full of Argonaut Athletics.
How to Follow the Argos: For complete information on UWF Volleyball, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook at
@UWFVolleyball
