BOCA RATON, Fla. - The No. 6 seed Argonauts (27-6, 20-0 GSC) fell behind the 8-ball early and couldn't make up ground in a 3-0 loss (20-25, 11-25, 22-25) to No. 3 seed Tampa (25-4, 16-4 SSC) at de Hoernle Sports & Cultural Center at Lynn University on Friday morning.
The Spartans led in every category, staying alive even when out of system to outhit UWF .288 to .080.
Caiden Largent led the Argo offense with seven kills on a .385 hitting day.
Emily Breazeale had five and
Annie Monaco,
Damyah Joyner,
Kumara Flanagain and
Magdalena Vongkasemsiri each chipped in four. D2CCA South Region Player of the Year
Gabi Moulton put up 28 assists and assisted three blocks. Fellow First Team All-GSC and D2CCA All-Region honoree
Jenna Zydlo assisted two blocks, scored three kills and was one of three Argos with an ace, along with
Meg Brackhan and Largent.
Nikki Deslatte had a pair of kills in her last collegiate contest.
In her final match as UWF libero, Second Team All-GSC and D2CCA All-Region winner
Meg Brackhan led both sides with 16 digs. Breazeale was next with nine, and
Taylor Teaman and Joyner each put up four.
"Not at all how we planned it to go, to be totally honest," Coach
Melissa Wolter said after the game. "Just not a great day for us, unfortunately. I think there were things that we did well at times to exploit what we felt were some of their weaknesses, but all in all, it was just a really, really good match by Tampa. So, definitely not the outcome we were looking for. But, at the end of the day, at this point, you've got to play really well to advance. We know this region is tough, we know they're tough. So hats off to them, I think they played really well, and they deserved today to advance."
It was the Argos' 18th straight regionals berth after earning the automatic bid via the GSC Championship, the program's 13th conference title and seventh in a row. UWF earned the best conference record in GSC history in winning all 20 matches and proceeding to claim the GSC Semifinals and Championship matches. The loss snaps the 22-game winning streak and is the Argos' last loss since their last matchup with Tampa on September 21 in Valdosta, Ga.
