CORALVILLE, Iowa — The University of West Florida volleyball team pushed Iowa to five sets Friday morning, but fell 3-2 (25-20, 16-25, 19-25, 25-18, 10-15) at Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa.
West Florida opened the match with kills from Kumara Flanagain, Emily Breazeale and Delaney Hanowell to take a 4-2 lead. After Iowa pulled even at 4-4, the Argos won seven of the next eight rallies behind three kills from Talya Sampson and two from Werley to build an 11-5 advantage. Iowa responded with five consecutive points and eventually tied the set at 14-14, but Flanagain put UWF back in front with a kill. Maddie Mire then served four straight points as the Argos extended their lead to 19-14. A Madison Joyner ace gave UWF set point at 24-18 before Werley closed the 25-20 victory with a kill.
The second set remained even early, with the Argos taking a 6-5 lead on Joyner's second ace of the match. After the score reached 10-10, Iowa moved ahead 12-10 before a block by Aniston Cochran, and Flanagain brought UWF within one. The Hawkeyes answered with five straight points to take control and later closed the set with consecutive Liv Mogridge kills for a 25-16 win.
Iowa carried that momentum into the third set, building a 6-0 lead before Flanagain put the Argos on the board. UWF trailed 13-6 before Lili Gegovic and Werley combined to provide four straight points, helping the Argos cut the deficit to 14-12 on a Hanowell kill. The Hawkeyes pushed their lead back to 17-12, but UWF continued to battle and pulled within 20-18 following a Werley kill and an Iowa attack error. Werley added another kill to make it 21-19 before Iowa scored the final four points to take the set 25-19.
West Florida responded in the fourth. Hanowell recorded a kill and a service ace during an early stretch that helped the Argos take a 6-3 lead, with Flanagain, Gegovic, and Werley also contributing kills. Iowa tied the set at 8-8 before UWF won seven of the next eight rallies, including four consecutive points on Werley's serve, to move ahead 15-9. After Iowa pulled within 16-14, Hanowell and Flanagain combined for three straight kills to restore a five-point advantage. The Argos remained in control from there, receiving a Lizzy Kwiatkowski ace and late kills from Breazeale, Cochran, Werley and Libby Tulip to force a fifth set with a 25-18 win.
The deciding set featured four ties and three lead changes in the opening 16 points. UWF moved ahead 3-2 following a block by Hanowell and Flanagain and an Iowa attack error. Tulip later gave the Argos a 6-5 advantage with a kill before combining with Cochran on a block for a 7-6 lead. Werley's kill tied the set at 8-8, but Iowa answered with four consecutive points to move ahead 12-8. UWF cut the deficit to 12-10 behind a Flanagain kill and a block by Flanagain and Hanowell, but the Hawkeyes claimed the final three points to close the match.
Werley delivered an all-around performance for the Argos, recording 15 kills on a .389 hitting percentage while adding 27 assists and nine digs. Flanagain led UWF with 18 kills and 20 points while setting a career high in attack attempts. She added four block assists to her team-leading 18 kills, Camryn Brooks established a career high with a match-leading 28 digs. Hanowell finished with a team-high seven blocks, including one solo, and contributed eight kills.
West Florida returns to the court Friday at 6 p.m. to face Texas Tech at Xtream Arena. 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).
