JACKSON, Tenn. - West Florida volleyball (17-5, 12-0 GSC) won its 12th straight match and claimed its third consecutive sweep (25-19, 25-20, 25-19) over Union (5-17, 3-10 GSC) at Fred DeLay Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon. With the win and boasting the top record in the conference, the Argonauts have officially clinched their 21st berth in the GSC Championship out of 23 full seasons, with the only years since 2002 that the program has not made the field coming in 2004 due to Hurricane Ivan and 2020 due to COVID-19.
The Argos hit .302 with six of their nine players with kills hitting over .300 individually. Union only hit .137 against the UWF defense, failing to crack the .100 mark in the first and third frames. The Bulldogs led 8-3 in aces, but every other category went to the Argos, as the Blue and Green took kills 48-35, errors 13-18, blocks 8-4 and digs 60-50.
Emily Breazeale led the squad with 13 kills on .345 hitting and 10 digs.
Jenna Zydlo and
Annie Monaco each made good on nine attacks with percentages of .444 and .333, respectively, as Zydlo also put up four total blocks and four digs and Monaco added a solo and assisted block.
Magdalena Vongkasemsiri tallied seven kills on .313 hitting in just two sets played with a solo and assisted block of her own.
Gabi Moulton made good on five of her nine attacks for a .556 output to go with 34 assists, 10 digs and three block assists.
Kumara Flanagain hit .667 with four kills.
Meg Brackhan contributed 14 digs and seven assists.
Erin Thompson had her most productive match as an Argo with eight digs. Also on the back line,
Camryn Brooks and
Taylor Teaman scooped seven and five attacks, respectively.
UWF dominated the first set offensively as both teams committed six miscues but the guests racked up 17 kills to the Bulldogs' nine to take the hitting battle .282 to .079. Monaco and Vongkasemsiri teamed up to combine for three kills and split a block to stake their team to a 4-0 lead right out of the gates. Union got their feet under them with a 7-2 run to take a one-point lead, their first and only one of the frame.
Vongkasemsiri earned her second kill of the night to tie the match back and Breazeale followed with two kills to put UWF up 9-7. Between a pair of attack errors for Union points, Vongkasemsiri tallied a solo block before a 5-0 Argo run started by a Bulldog error and built with two Breazeale kills bookending kills by Zydlo and Moulton. After Union got three points closer, Moulton came up with another kill to precede an ace and a kill by Breazeale and a solo block from Monaco to go up 19-12. Union got within four twice from there before Breazeale scored consecutive kills to close out the opening set off assists from Moulton and Brackhan.
The second frame was only one point closer but saw just a two-kill and .130 advantage for West Florida. The teams traded the lead and accompanying runs all the way to a 15-15 score, at which point the Argonauts scored three straight with kills from Moulton and
Delaney Hanowell sandwiching an assist error before the duo split a block following a Union kill for a 19-16 lead. Union would get within 21-20 before Flanagain, Zydlo, Breazeale and Moulton each poured in a kill with Thompson serving to build the lead to 2-0.
As in the other frames, despite some close moments, the sweep was never in serious doubt as UWF outhit Union .257 to .095. Trailing 4-3 at the outset, Breazeale tied it with a kill before Thompson stepped behind the service line once again and Zydlo registered a block with Moulton and consecutive kills for four straight points. Union would respond with a 4-0 run of their own to retake the lead but UWF took six of the next seven points to take a 13-9 lead. In this span, Zydlo, Breazeale and Monaco fired kills and Zydlo added a block assisted by Moulton and an ace.
The hosts capitalized on six of the next eight rallies to tie another set at 15-all before another 6-1 run by the Argos that was started via service error and continued with a pair of kills apiece from Flanagain and Zydlo and another by Breazeale. Leading 21-16, Union scored the next three with a UWF miscue on the serve and a pair of kills by the Bulldogs' leading scorer Reese Owens. However, it was undone for the Tennesseans with three errors, including one forced by a solo Zydlo block, along with a Monaco kill proved to be the 4-0 run UWF needed to leave town early with a victory.
The Argos wrap up their stretch of five road matches next week as they make the return trek to Valdosta State and attempt a season sweep of the Blazers on Tuesday, Oct. 29 at 6 pm ET/5 pm CT before returning home for a spell.
For more information, please visit GoArgos.com or follow the program at @UWFVolleyball on Facebook, X and Instagram.
