PENSACOLA, Fla. - No. 16 UWF (8-4, 2-0 GSC) dominated the stat sheet en route to extending its winning streak to five games and defeating Auburn Montgomery 3-0 (25-13, 25-20, 25-14) at UWF Field House tonight on its Black Out Night.
UWF (8-4, 2-0 GSC) limited the Warhawks (10-4, 0-2 GSC) to a .034 offensive output and just 22 kills. The hosts held them below 0.1 hitting in each frame and to 0.0 in the third. The home squad also kept five players for the opposition that had at least four attacks to negative hitting percentages. By comparison, the Argos racked up 38 kills on a .279 night on an almost equal number of attacks, and tallied 56 points to AUM's 28.
Trailing by one seven points into the match, the Argonauts broke off a 6-0 run, in which
Annie Monaco stepped behind the service line and fired four aces, three of them consecutively to end the span. Keren Santana of AUM was on the receiving end of all four, unable to keep any ball from Monaco in play. She would register an ace in helping her team scratch back four points, but after four of the next six points went to UWF, another 6-0 run for the Argos ensued that grew their lead to 19-10. Sterling opened it with a kill, and Rodgers then stepped up to send three attacks home in a career day for the junior right side. The two combined for a block on the sixth point. West Florida scored six of the last eight points of the frame, as Sterling, Rodgers, Monaco and
Jenna Zydlo each had kills and Zydlo and Monaco combined for a block.
The Blue and Green found itself in a tighter battle in Set 2, trailing 14-12. Subs took charge at this point, as
Damyah Joyner found two kills before freshman
Caiden Largent, on her third play after subbing in, tallied an ace and the team induced an error to take a 16-14 lead. AUM proceeded to take a one-point lead, but Joyner shut that down by opening another run with a kill. This time, it was a 5-0 span, which included a
Gabi Moulton ace and another combo block between Sterling and Rodgers. The Warhawks did get back three points to narrow it to 22-20, but Rodgers, Sterling and Largent each killed balls to help their team pass its toughest test of the match.
Another 5-0 run to provide an 8-2 lead put the Argos in a rock-solid position to end this one after three, as back-to-back aces by
Izabelle Sanchez and a solo block by Largent helped it materialize. Coach
Melissa Wolter used the opportunity to insert more reserves into the rotations, and they did not disappoint.
Emily Breazeale came up with two kills and
Madison Long assisted a Joyner block as part of a 6-0 span, and
Stephanie Barber put up three assists in her time on the court.
Rodgers had the highest hitting percentage of her UWF career when collecting double-digit attacks, reaching .643 on nine kills. Sterling had her highest percentage as an Argo as well, hitting .600 with her seven kills. The two combined for just one miscue. With six kills on eight attempts, Largent showed out with an eye-popping .750 performance, and Breazeale was perfect in her limited time as she sent all three of her attempts to the floor. Sterling assisted on five blocks, and Rodgers, Joyner, Zydlo and Monaco each had a pair.
Meg Brackhan scooped 13 attacks, and Sanchez and Moulton each also finished with the lucky number in assists.
The Argos head to Clinton, Miss., for their next game against Mississippi College, their first match there since the Choctaws ended the UWF program-record 51-game conference winning streak last season. The latter hopes to come back home with better vibes this time around.
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