LIVINGSTON, Ala. – West Alabama volleyball was taken out by another 3-1 (25-12, 22-25, 25-12, 25-19) match Saturday, falling to the University of Montevallo inside of Pruitt Hall Gymnasium.
UWA (0-8, 0-2) lost the first set decisively to Montevallo (7-4, 2-0), but it battled for every point in set two. The Tigers managed to stay ahead of the Falcons to claim the second set, 25-22. Unfortunately, West Alabama could not repeat the feat in the remaining two frames for the 3-1 loss.
Nathalia Medeiros led the Tiger offense with 10 kills for 21 total attacks. Medeiros was the most accurate she has been this season, hitting at .381. The Rio de Janeiro native also added three blocks in the effort.
At setter Desiree Blount had 28 assists. On defense, Mackenzie Wells led the team with 12 digs.
SET ONE
Montevallo took a 5-2 lead that led to a West Alabama timeout. Before the timeout, the Tigers had just one kill off the hand of Madison Fisher. Immediately following the timeout, an attack error gave the Falcons the point, and they continued to run the score until a kill by Isabela Sarti broke their run, 10-3. The deficit proved to be too much, and the teams closed the set, 25-12, with the point going to Montevallo.
SET TWO
West Alabama and Montevallo hung close in scoring for set two, with the largest lead being five points. A miscue on a Falcon attack gave UWA the first point of the frame. The two teams stayed within one of each other before a bad set, and a service ace gave Montevallo a 6-4 advantage. The competitors traded scores and tied three times before the Falcons went on a scoring run to pull ahead 18-13. The Tigers rallied back and scored four consecutive points to gain a 23-21 lead. Montevallo would score just one more point in the set, and West Alabama stepped away with the point in a 25-23 set.
SET THREE
Similar to the first set, UWA started the game behind 5-2. West Al's first point came from service error, and its second was on a kill by Beatriz Giordan. Montevallo jumped ahead 10-4, but an attack error, a service ace from Amelia Johnigan, and back-to-back kills from Giordan and Madison Fisher put the Tigers within two of the Falcons lead at 10-8. UWA would only score four more points in the set, dropping set three, 25-12.
SET FOUR
West Alabama found themselves down again 5-2 to open up set four, but Johnigan closed the gap to 5-3 with a kill. Behind 21-13, Johnigan did some heavy offensive lifting to grab three consecutive points, recording a kill and back-to-back service aces. The gap was just too wide, and the Tigers could not rally back, ending the set at 25-19.
UP NEXT
The Tigers will have their first road conference game when they travel to Montgomery, Ala., on Friday, Oct. 1. West Alabama will face Auburn – Montgomery at 6 p.m. inside the AUM Athletics Complex.
