TAMPA, Fla. – Avery Rodgers and Jenna Zydlo combined for 29 kills as fifth-seeded UWF erased an 8-4 deficit in the fifth set to defeat fourth-seeded Eckerd, 3-2, in the First Round of the NCAA South Region Tournament at Tampa's Bob Martinez Center on Friday.
No. 11 UWF (28-5) hit .229 for the match and outscored Eckerd (24-3) 5-2 down the stretch in the final set for the team's fifth 5-set victory in six tries this season.
"I'm really proud of the way we just grinded out the end of the match," UWF head coach Melissa Wolter said. "They neutralized our middles well, but the good thing is we can get production from other players. We got a lot of help from Avery and a significant amount from Alex (Oliver). We have a lot of different people who have led us in hitting at different times this season."
Rodgers finished with 15 kills on .344 hitting, while Zydlo had 14 winners on a .343 pct. Oliver was the third Argonaut in double figures, collecting 11 kills with five coming in the third set. Taylor Vaneekeren handed out 44 assists to go along with four kills, two aces and 13 digs.
UWF struggled to get its offense going in the opening set, hitting .125 with seven errors. The Tritons overcame a 5-1 UWF lead early to eventually grab a 15-14 advantage. EC led 22-20 before UWF tied it at 22 and again at 23. But the Tritons won the next two points for the 25-23 win.
UWF hit better to begin the second set, jumping out to a 9-4 lead. The teams went back and forth before a steady dose of Rodgers helped the Argos extend the lead to 19-15. The Tritons tied it at 21 before the Argos scored four of the final six, with the final two coming from Oliver for a 25-23 decision. UWF hit .234 in the frame.
The Argos got five kills from five different players to open the third as they exploded to a 6-2 lead. The Blue and Green captured a 2-1 match lead with a 25-22 win in the third, finishing with six kills and an ace down the stretch.
Eckerd went ahead 8-4 to start the fourth and hit .356 en route to a 25-18 win that forced a fifth set.
In the final frame, the Argos fell behind 6-2 before they got their first kill of the set. UWF kept battling and used a 4-0 run to take a 10-9 lead. Eckerd retook the lead at 13-12 before Oliver tied it leading to Zydlow scoring UWF's final three points to win the match and advance to the regional semifinal.
UWF will face top seed and No. 5 ranked Tampa (28-3) at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time (6:30 p.m. CT) on Saturday night.
"It doesn't matter who you are playing, we need to follow our game plan and do our best to take a physical team out of their comfort zone," Wolter added.
