Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 DENVER, Colo. - No. 13 UWF (3-2) won its opening match of the Colorado Premier Challenge 3-1 against Central Missouri before falling 3-2 to No. 16 Cal State-LA to wrap up pool play at the Regis University Fieldhouse on Friday.
WEST FLORIDA 3, CENTRAL MISSOURI 1 (25-27, 26-24, 25-20, 25-12)
The Argonauts came out on top in two of three evenly-matched sets, which would become a theme for their day of competition, before running away with the deciding set by 13 points to put away Central Missouri for the third consecutive time in the series after dropping six of the first seven meetings. A back-and-forth opening set saw UCM score the two clinching points after
Bailee Sterling tied it at 25.
The Argos utilized a 5-0 run to get a leg up in the second frame, but the Jennies used a 5-0 span of kills to take their first lead 20-19. However, trailing 24-22, West Florida rattled off four straight points via a kill by
Avery Rodgers and three straight errors to even up the match. UWF got momentum on its side with an 8-1 run to go up 9-3. The teams volleyed leads and ties back and forth before a 7-2 span gave the Argonauts enough cushion to pull away and take a 2-1 lead.
From there, the Argos kicked it into high gear by claiming an early 6-1 lead before a run of 5-0 put them ahead 15-5 and another of 5-1 was the decisive span to handily clinch the set and game. The final hitting percentages in the first three sets had a maximum difference of 0.113 until the fourth, when UWF outhit the Jennies 0.467 to 0.161.
Rodgers led the team with 15 kills as part of a .520 hitting performance. Sterling was not far behind with 13 kills to just one error for a .500 offensive output along with six block assists.
Damyah Joyner and
Jenna Zydlo had eight kills on .353 and 10 kills on .320, respectively.
Meg Brackhan registered 16 digs and
Jacque Martin generated 12.
Gabi Moulton followed up on her GSC Freshman of the Week honor by racking up 30 assists, and
Izabelle Sanchez added 16.
CAL STATE-LA 3, WEST FLORIDA 2 (20-25, 25-16, 23-25, 25-18, 15-12)
Runs of 6-0 and 5-0 were enough for West Florida to gain a 1-0 lead, but the Golden Eagles responded in the second set with three 3-0 runs and another of 4-0 that provided a comfortable 21-12 advantage to enable them to coast into Set 3.
After Cal State-LA rallied from a three-point deficit to tie it back 20-20, the Blue and Green responded with two points that proved to be enough to keep the Californians at bay and take a 2-1 match lead. However, in another set of run- and point-trading, the latter came out on top to tie the game once again. A Sterling kill and a block from her and
Alex Oliver gave UWF the early lead, but a 5-0 run stole the momentum and the first-time opponents of the Argos parlayed it into keeping them at arm's length the rest of the way.
Sterling continued her stellar day by leading her squad with 15 kills and a .480 attack percentage, as well as tying for the team lead in blocks alongside Zydlo with four. Rodgers and Oliver each assisted on three blocks, and Rodgers added 11 kills and two solo blocks to her docket. Martin and
Annie Monaco had nine kills apiece. Brackhan led the defense once again with 16 digs, and Moulton distributed for the offense with 35 assists.
WIth bracket play beginning play tomorrow, the Argonauts earned a spot in the Gold Bracket for only the third time in the history of the tournament. The other two times were in 2012 and 2009, in which they went 2-0 on the first day of the event. UWF makes the cut this year by virtue of tiebreakers, as the Argos, Central Missouri and Cal State-LA all finished the day 1-1.
West Florida takes on Wayne State (Neb.) tomorrow at 11:30 am MT/12:30 pm CT on the campus of MSU-Denver. The Wildcats went 2-0 in Pool 3 with wins over Texas-Tyler and No. 19 Regis. With a win, the Argos advance to the Gold Bracket championship game at 7 pm MT/8 pm CT, but if they lose, they play in the Third Place matchup at 4:30 pm MT/5:30 CT.
For more information, please visit GoArgos.com or follow the program at @UWFVolleyball on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
