PENSACOLA, Fla. - After a 3-0 win at West Alabama to open Gulf South Conference play that was kept closer than the score might suggest by the pesky Tigers, No. 16 West Florida (7-4, 1-0 GSC) returns to the UWF Field House with the chance to improve against another conference opponent from Alabama in Auburn Montgomery (10-3, 0-1 GSC) on Friday at 5 p.m. The Argos then travel to Clinton, Miss., to face Mississippi College (2-6, 1-0 GSC) on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at A.E. Wood Coliseum.
The AUM match is UWF volleyball's annual Black Out. Fans are encouraged to wear black, and the first 100 students with valid student ID will receive a free T-shirt marking the occasion.
UWF currently sits at third place in the conference standings behind Alabama Huntsville and Valdosta State. AUM falls at seventh with a 10-3 overall record, but dropped its first conference matchup on Tuesday at Mississippi College, allowing the latter to surge to fourth in the GSC with a 2-6 record.
Jenna Zydlo and
Avery Rodgers have a .325 and .305 hitting percentage to sit at fourth and sixth place in the GSC, respectively. Rodgers also comes in at sixth in kills with 122 and 2.90 per set. True freshman
Gabi Moulton has 245 assists and 5.98 per set to come in at fifth place, and
Bailee Sterling is at fifth in blocks with 39 total.
Meg Brackhan has 43 digs and four per set to place fourth there.
AUM's Ruth Sconocchini is at third place in the GSC with a .346 hitting percentage and at fourth with 130 kills. Kaleigh Fitzgerald, libero for the Warhawks, comes in at fourth in service aces with 41 and fifth in digs with 164. Additionally, a pair of AUM middle blockers, Myllena Torquetti and Maya Thompson, sit at eighth and ninth in blocks with 37 and 29, respectively. As for Mississippi College, Lydia Paulette and Caroline Chastang register at second and third place in kills with 124 on 3.88 hitting and 108 on 3.38 hitting, respectively.
The Argos go into the game looking to extend their all-time winning streak in the series against the Warhawks, going a perfect 10-0 against them since their program began upon entering the GSC in 2017. The closest match in that span came in a five-setter in Montgomery in 2019. AUM won its first set against UWF since that game in November of last season.
UWF has won 16 of its 20 meetings with Mississippi College, including 15 of the last 16. In the Argonauts' game in Clinton last season, the Choctaws won 3-2 and snapped West Florida's 51-game conference winning streak. UWF won the rematch in Pensacola and have not lost in GSC play since then.
For more information, please visit GoArgos.com or follow the program at @UWFVolleyball on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
