TYLER, Texas – The West Alabama volleyball team had a rough opening weekend at the 2021 Dakota Patriot Classic hosted by the University of Texas – Tyler. After the three-match tournament on Friday, Sept. 10 – Saturday, Sept. 11, the Tigers are 0-3 on the season.
The tournament started rocky for all involved, with three teams pulling out of the competition due to covid-19 protocols. The schedule changed a few hours before the first serve, with UWA meeting Harding University on Friday and Oklahoma Baptist University and Southeastern Oklahoma State University on Saturday.
Because of their effort during the tournament,
Nathalia Medeiros and Mackenzie Wells were named to the Dakota Patriot All-Tournament Team.
This weekend, Medeiros played in all 10 sets for 23 kills and 12 digs. Wells saw 45 digs and seven assists.
UWA vs. Harding (0-3)
In the first match of the weekend, Harding swept 3-0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-16) West Alabama on Friday afternoon inside Herrington Patriot Center.
Nathalia led UWA with 11 kills, hitting .258 in the match. She was the only Tiger player to hit double figures. As a team, West Alabama hit .149 during the competition with 26 kills on 101 total attacks.
Setter
Desiree Blount saw 11 assists with one service ace. She also recorded four digs.
On the defensive side, Mackenzie Wells and
Madison Fisher both saw double-digits in digs. Wells saw 16 with four assists, and Fisher saw 10 with five kills.
Harding hit .252 as Libby Hinton led the team with 14 kills and 13 from Amber Robin. The Bisons had 62 total digs, with Emma Winiger leading the team with 20.
UWA vs. OBU (0-3)
UWA fell to Oklahoma Baptist in a 3-0 (25-17, 25-14, 25-20) sweep Saturday morning in its second match of the Dakota Patriot Classic.
The Tigers fell victim to errors, falling behind early in all three sets and hitting at just a .058 clip for the match. Outside hitter
Madison Fisher led all UWA players with six in the game.
Mya Carter and
Isabela Sarti had four.
West Al saw some luck with serves, with Holoisa Niespodzinski leading with a game-high of three. Fisher and Madison Van Dyke had one each.
Van Dyke also led the team in assists with 12, followed by
Desiree Blount with 11.
Amelia Johnigan tied for a game-high of three blocks, and Mackenzie Well led the team with 12 digs.
UWA vs. SEOK (1-3)
West Alabama took its first set of the tournament, but it was not enough for the match victory against Southeastern Oklahoma. SEOK defeated UWA 3-1 (25-13, 25-14, 19-25, 25-19).
The Storm hit .233 in the match and held the Tigers to just .123 in four sets. SEOK had three different players with 10-plus kills in the game.
UWA was paced by
Nathalia Medeiros, who had 10 kills with three digs and one assist. Desiree Blout paced the West Al attack, netting 19 assists in the match with 11 digs. Mackenzie Wells led the defense with 17 digs.
Up Next
The Tigers will travel to Milledgeville, Ga. to participate in the Georgia College Tournament on Friday, Sept. 17 – Saturday, Sept. 18. During the tournament, UWA will face Augusta University, USC Aiken, and Georgia College.
