PENSACOLA, Fla. - Amid a four-match losing streak and with Valdosta State coming to town to open conference play, not content with just a win, senior middle blocker Jenna Zydlo said the team was going for a sweep against the Blazers. 
 
Mission accomplished. West Florida (6-5, 1-0 GSC) got back in the win column for the first time since September 13 against Spring Hill, putting away VSU (6-5, 0-1 GSC) at UWF Field House on Tuesday night 3-0 (25-19, 29-27, 25-15) to open the GSC slate with a bang and move up one crucial spot to second place in the conference standings.
 
The Argos dominated, taking every category on the stat sheet except aces, outhitting the Blazers .382 to .223 and winning that battle in the first and third frames while surviving a close call in the second. The hosts held Valdosta State to eight less kills and 12 less digs while also forcing the guests into six more errors. Only one Blazer had double-digit kills, and the Argos held the GSC's leader in digs, Kaia Baker, to just 13 as the next closest had only eight. 
 
Emily Breazeale led the squad in kills with 13 as she committed just one error on 28 attacks, good for a .429 outing, along with eight digs and a pair of crucial aces. Zydlo scored 11 kills on a .364 night with three block assists. A pair of underclassmen led the squad in offensive efficiency with .500 performances, as Magdalena Vongkasemsiri and Kumara Flanagain combined for 17 kills and only three miscues. Defensive specialists Taylor Teaman and Meg Brackhan had another big day on the back line, as the former racked up 16 digs and the fifth-year senior scooped 11 attacks. Camryn Brooks added five scoops, and Gabi Moulton had four to go with her 41 assists and three total blocks.
 
The Argos trailed thrice in the opening set and each time were able to take the lead back with 5-0, 3-0 and 4-0 runs. The teams were almost equal in kills for the set, but UWF forced VSU into eight errors while only committing two themselves, winning the hitting battle .481 to .143. After coming back from the last deficit and ceding a point to Valdosta, the Blue and Green got a 5-0 run to put them one point shy of set point with two kills from Breazeale and one each from Caiden Largent and Moulton. A service error, one of 10 on the day for the Blazers between just three servers, and another Breazeale kill put UWF up 1-0.
 
After VSU opened Set 1 with an ace, Vongkasemsiri put her team on the board first in the second with a kill, starting her team's scoring the same way she began the first. Breazeale then served up an ace, and after a VSU kill and service error, UWF put up kills from the threesome of Flanagain, Largent and Zydlo to go up 6-1. However, it was the Blazers' turn to flip the script on the Argos, first tying the score at 18 before the teams jockeyed the lead back and forth. The teams both scored 15 kills in the frame and VSU managed to win the hitting battle .244 to .196. However, it was not to be for the Georgians.
 
After taking a 23-22 lead, West Florida got to set point with a kill by Delaney Hanowell and an error. The Blazers proceeded to tie the set and prolong the battle, overcoming the first of four set points, the last two of which came via more VSU service errors. Tied at 27, Flanagain stepped up with a kill and Teaman scored an ace to allow her squad to breathe easier headed into Set 3.
 
Galvanized by the rally in the previous frame, the Argos didn't blink, even when they trailed by two points four times in the early going of the final set. Their 5-0 run after trailing 5-3 gave them a permanent run, starting with Audrey Bennett's fourth service error of the night. Vongkasemsiri promptly stepped behind the line herself and scored an ace and didn't leave until after a pair of Zydlo kills and a block by Zydlo and Moulton. 
 
Leading 17-12 after a trade of points, Breazeale scored consecutive kills off Moulton assists, and Zydlo would then add two more sandwiched around a kill and error from Valdosta. The Blazers scored their last point of the night to make it 22-15, and the Argos proceeded to end this one on a high note with kills from Flanagain, Vongkasemsiri and Cate Wright. All told, the Argos blew away the Blazers in the final set to the tune of 18 kills and just one error for an insane .586 frame.
 
The Argos will remain in the friendly confines of the Field House for their next two GSC contests this weekend. The action begins with the program's third annual Silent Set Night on Friday at 6 pm against Union.     
 
For more information, please visit GoArgos.com or follow the program at @UWFVolleyball on Facebook, X and Instagram.