ROME, Ga. - UWF (15-4, 9-0 GSC) jumped out to big leads and held on for a win tonight by a 3-0 score (25-18, 25-16, 25-21) at the Winthrop-King Centre over host Shorter (4-13, 1-8 GSC). The victory is the seventh sweep of the season for the Argos, with six of their nine Gulf South Conference wins in that tally.
The Hawks made it a close battle statistically by winning the assist margin, tying the West Florida mark of seven aces and coming with just one fewer kill. However, the Argonauts came out on top in hitting percentage in each set, committing just 11 errors to 17 by Shorter, despite the latter attacking 105 balls to UWF's 93.
The closest frame in terms of hitting was the first, as UWF won the category by just 0.05 percent.
Annie Monaco flipped a 2-1 deficit by scoring three points in a run of five that made the score 6-2 with a kill and two aces. Shorter rallied to tie it at 8, before a service error broke the tie and gave the ball back to the visitors. The next six points went to the side from Pensacola. Four of them came via error and the other two were aces by
Caiden Largent. The scoring was mostly back and forth from there on, before a 22-18 lead was turned into the winning span thanks to kills by Largent and
Gabi Moulton and an error.
The Argos won the last two sets by outhitting the Hawks by at least 0.107 percent in each. UWF scored the first four points and 10 of the first 13 in the second frame.
Avery Rodgers had three kills in the span and hit an eye-popping .714 throughout the first two sets.
Bailee Sterling and
Annie Monaco split two blocks in the first four points.
Jacque Martin had three kills, including the sealing one, and an ace in the second, Monaco had consecutive kills and
Meg Brackhan and Sterling served up aces of their own.
Rodgers opened a set with a kill for the second time tonight in the third. With a 5-3 lead, Rodgers, Martin and
Jenna Zydlo combined for four kills before
Alex Oliver, in her first action since the Colorado Premier Challenge due to injury, sent home a block to finish off a 5-0 run. Shorter promptly scored the next six to get within one before solo blocks from Oliver and Zydlo restored order. When the Hawks narrowed the margin to one again at 15-14, a service error started another UWF push that was continued by Sterling and her back-to-back solo blocks. Despite that, the hosts refused to go away and pulled within 21-20 before another service error gave momentum firmly back to the Argos. Monaco, Zydlo and Sterling produced three of the match's final four points via kills off assists from
Izabelle Sanchez.
Four Argos hit over .300, six reached the .250 mark and all seven with positive offensive percentages finished at or above .200. Martin hit a blistering .667 with seven kills on nine attempts. Rodgers finished with eight kills and Monaco with seven, as both reached .429. Monaco also registered eight digs, second only to
Meg Brackhan's 12. Moulton led the assist game with 12 as Sanchez and Brackhan combined for 13. Sterling blocked a combined five attacks in addition to her four kills and .308 offensive output.
UWF travels over the Tennessee state line tonight to Cleveland for a 1 pm ET/noon CT match tomorrow against Lee.
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