PENSACOLA, Fla. — West Florida defeated Florida Southern 3-1 on Friday, taking the match 25-13, 27-25, 22-25, 25-18. The Argos highlighted the win with a comeback from a 24-21 deficit in the second set.
Florida Southern scored the first two points of the opening set, but West Florida quickly pulled even at 2-2 on an attack error and a Camryn Brooks service ace. With the score tied 5-5, the Argos won seven of the next eight rallies behind kills from Aniston Cochran, Brooks, Karyna Werley and Gabi Moulton to build a 12-6 lead.
West Florida extended the advantage with a six-point run that featured kills from Kumara Flanagain, Delaney Hanowell, Madalyn Mire and Talya Sampson, along with a Moulton service ace, to make it 19-8. The Argos remained in control from there, reaching set point on a Flanagain kill before Emily Breazeale finished the 25-13 win with a kill from Moulton.
Florida Southern opened an 8-4 advantage in the second set before West Florida responded behind kills from Sampson, Moulton and Hanowell to move ahead 10-9. Neither side was able to separate through the middle of the set, with the Argos holding leads of 14-12, 17-15 and 19-17 before the Moccasins rallied.
Florida Southern reached set point at 24-21 on a Lindsay Piktel service ace, but West Florida answered with three straight points. A service error, a Sampson kill and an Ella Kuosmanen attack error tied the set at 24-24. After Mel Garrett put Florida Southern back in front, Cochran answered with a kill before Moulton and Hanowell combined on a block to give UWF a 26-25 lead. A Florida Southern attack error on the next rally completed the comeback, 27-25.
West Florida scored the first two points of the third set, but Florida Southern answered with seven of the next eight to take a 9-3 lead. Sampson helped bring the Argos back within 9-7 with two kills around a Mire service ace and a Moccasin attack error.
Florida Southern rebuilt its advantage to 15-9 and later led 21-16 before West Florida made another push. The Argos scored four straight, including kills from Cochran and Moulton, to pull within 21-20 and later cut the deficit to 23-22. Whitney Mall answered with a kill before combining on the set-ending block to give Florida Southern a 25-22 win.
The Moccasins took an early 5-3 lead in the fourth set before West Florida seized control with seven of the next eight rallies. Sampson, Flanagain and Breazeale each recorded kills during the run, while Hanowell and Flanagain combined on a block to put the Argos ahead 10-6.
Florida Southern cut the margin to 14-13, but a Werley kill and Mire service ace pushed UWF back ahead 16-13. The Argos then broke the set open with four straight points, highlighted by a Moulton ace, a Hanowell-Sampson block and a Hanowell kill, to take a 20-14 advantage. Madison Joyner later delivered back-to-back service aces to bring West Florida to match point at 24-16 before a Florida Southern service error closed out the set, 25-18.
The Argos return home tomorrow to close out the final day of the West Florida Challenge. UWF will face off against Tampa at 2:00 p.m. Live stats will be available on GoArgos.com.
For more information on the UWF volleyball program, visit GoArgos.com and follow the team on social media at @uwfvolleyball (Instagram) and @UWFVolleyball (X).
