PENSACOLA, Fla. - West Florida was in unfamiliar territory.
 
For the second straight season, UWF volleyball took on a No. 2-seed Alabama Huntsville team with the GSC Championship and automatic bid to the NCAA DII South Regional on the line in front of a raucous crowd in UWF Field House. The No. 1 Argos had swept in both regular season meetings to take the top spot from the Chargers for good on the way to a 20-0 GSC record, the best record in conference history. At this moment, however, all that seemed it would be for naught. 
 
UAH stormed out of the gates, stunning the Argos with leads of 5-1, 8-3 and 15-9 before Coach Melissa Wolter called her second timeout of the first set at the latter point. The Chargers weren't done, undoubtedly remembering last year's title match, scoring four of the next five rallies to stretch the lead to 19-10. 
 
But hold up. These Argonauts didn't hear no bell.
 
With the odds against them, the hosts (27-5, 20-0 GSC) flipped a switch and unleashed the highlight of this 2024 UWF volleyball season, not stopping until they had finished off a mind-blowing 26-24 first set win to set them on a path to the 3-1 defeat (26-24, 25-13, 17-25, 25-14) of the Chargers (26-6, 16-4 GSC). For their efforts in Saturday's sweep of Lee and leading the Sunday comeback, fifth-year senior libero Meg Brackhan, sophomore setter and GSC Setter and Player of the Year Gabi Moulton and freshman middle blocker Delaney Hanowell all placed on the All-Tournament Team, with Brackhan winning her second consecutive GSC Championship Most Outstanding Player award. 
 
On winning the award again, and leading her team to a fourth GSC Championship in as many seasons of her playing career, Brackhan said, "I think most importantly, I'm just so excited that we won again. We're just so grateful to be part of a program that has such great tradition. It means so much that we get to come out here and play a game that we really love. I'm just so glad that we're able to bring home a trophy to a community that loves us so much."
 
Before earning that privilege, though, they had to overcome the deficit. Trailing by nine, the Argos took four of the next five points, three scored via kills from Kumara Flanagain with the other by Hanowell. Trailing 21-14, Flanagain added another kill before Taylor Teaman scored an ace. Moulton recorded a kill to pull within five before the Chargers got it one point away from set point. Moulton scratched the point back with another kill before the onslaught began. 
 
Senior middle Jenna Zydlo served the next play, resulting in a Charger miscue, before Wolter subbed in senior defensive specialist Erin Thompson at the line. The adjustment rallied the troops, as the Argo offense threw the Chargers out of system and in their own heads, committing three more errors to improbably pull UWF within one. 
 
"We did not play well out of the gate," Wolter acknowledged. "I think we were tight. And (UAH) did some things serving wise and they tipped into different holes in our defense and we got frustrated. We don't play very well frustrated. Haley (Kindall), my volunteer assistant, did a really good job managing them in that second timeout. And I think who was clutch was Erin Thompson, and she had the service run of points. She's trained for that. And I think in that moment, our team rallied behind her, they believed in her and they started believing in themselves.
 
"We had people (Sunday) who we normally rely on who they (UAH Chargers) were stopping. And you play teams three times and it's hard. You don't have any more tricks in your bag. So I thought we made some really strategic moves with a couple of substitutions. We plugged our middles."
 
Brooks tied it up with a kill and Hanowell added another to completely flip the script and make it set point for the Argos. All told, it was a 14-4 run capped by a 7-0 span and a 5-0 service run for Thompson that forced the Chargers to turn around and use their two timeouts. UAH did stay alive after forcing an offensive error themselves to make it 24-24, but promptly committed two more as UWF took the 1-0 lead.
 
"I think we realized that UAH came in here and they were playing big ball," said Brackhan. "And we had to realize this was exactly what we wanted. We wanted somebody to come into this gym and challenge us. And that's exactly what they were doing. So for us it was just adjusting and just sticking to our gameplan, making adjustments accordingly and worrying more about what's on our side. And also realizing, this is a big moment and let's love the moment and make the most of it. We said even between sets, be present, be in the moment. This is something really cool that we are getting the opportunity to do. And just be ready and enjoy the moment."
 
Count Wolter among those exhilarated by her squad's comeback. "There's no words (for how big winning that game was). When we crossed sides, I said that's a near miracle. I don't know many teams that can come back from that far of a deficit against that style and that physical of a team. That was gigantic."
 
After narrowly taking the hitting battle in the opening set .186 to .109, the Argos took the wind out of the visitors' sails by dominating the second frame .265 to 0.0. They opened with a 5-1 run of their own, earning their largest lead until the end at 18-9 and scoring the final five points to go up 2-0. Along with two UAH errors, Moulton and Zydlo split a block for the first of the five and Emily Breazeale and Hanowell tallied kills. 
 
The Chargers would not go away that easily, though, outhitting UWF in the third set .458 to .167 and narrowing the Argos' match lead to one. It was the first frame the Blue and Green dropped since their win at Christian Brothers just under a month ago. 
 
Brackhan said of the setback, "After we lost that third set, Coach (Wolter) said, this is what it feels like to lose a set. Welcome that. This is called big volleyball. Enjoy it. All you can do is to do the next best thing and come back in this next set."
 
The Chargers then stirred up some more nerves with an early lead in the fourth period. Senior right side Damyah Joyner, added to the lineup for the first time today to start the set, scored a kill to get it within 4-3 before another senior, Annie Monaco, tied it up with a kill of her own. The teams went back and forth before a service error, a block by Zydlo and Breazeale and a Zydlo kill gave the Argos the lead. Joyner and Monaco each added another kill in response to a UAH score to regain the lead 11-9. 
 
"We put Damyah out there and I think it gave us new life," Wolter said. "I think that's who we are. We are very deep and that is part of how we're able to get out of jams is that we've got solutions on our bench. And I don't know many people who have that."
 
Leading 17-13, Breazeale, Zydlo and Teaman scored kills to hit 20 points. UWF gave up a kill to UAH, but would not surrender another score, taking the last five rallies. While forcing yet another hitting error, Moulton, Breazeale and Zydlo provided kills to make it match point. As she so often has, Breazeale stepped up, calling game with one last kill. She, Flanagain and Hanowell all finished with double-digit kills. 
 
Wolter, fresh off winning her ninth GSC Coach of the Year award and now adding her 13th and seventh straight conference title, said, "This one is really special. We have eight seniors and not all have started here, but some of them did. And some chose to come here after leaving another school and that kind of legacy is something I really thought long and hard about this morning, knowing this game had implications post-season wise and what-not, but I really wanted it for them (seniors). They have been through a lot with the Covid situation (in 2020) and all the things. I just felt strongly we needed to notch this one for them."
 
The title is the 125th for UWF across all athletic programs. UWF volleyball now awaits its destination and seeding for the South Regional, its 18th straight season reaching the first stage of the big dance. The selection show is tomorrow night, Nov. 25 at 7:30 pm ET/6:30 pm CT and can be watched at NCAA.com. 
 
For more information, please visit GoArgos.com or follow the program at @UWFVolleyball on Facebook, X and Instagram.

*quotes gathered by Bill Vilona, GoArgos.com correspondent