LIVINGSTON, Ala. – It was a well-balanced attack that paced the West Alabama volleyball team to a 3-0 sweep of West Georgia on Friday night inside Pruitt Hall. It was the first Gulf South Conference win of the season for the Tigers, taking the match by set scores of (25-15, 25-23, 26-24).
"I'm extremely proud of the ladies tonight. They executed with purpose and played aggressively from start to finish! They showed tenacity on the court without wavering. This season has been about knocking down bricks from the walls they have put up and we took a sledgehammer to a few tonight," head coach John Schmidt said. "When we went down in set three, 11-3 early on, we had talked about growth comes in baby steps throughout the season, we matured to realize it is also how we should play the game when in a heated match. Picking up a couple of points here, a couple of points there; basically baby steps, we gave ourselves a chance to pull off the victory against a very gritty team. The ladies deserve all of the credit for tonight's win."
UWA (6-14, 1-7 GSC) tallied 13 blocks, holding UWG (9-12, 2-7 GSC) to just a .010 hitting percentage and 24 total attacking errors. The Wolves hit negative in sets one and three. The Tigers on the other hand had positive attacking numbers in each set, coming away with 33 kills for the match. They opened the match hitting .240 and finished at .181.
Madison Fisher and Chyna Dixon led the offense each reaching double-digits in kills. Fisher tallied a match-high 13, followed by Dixon's 11. Dixon made it a double-double with 11 assists. Maddie Van Dyke had a few more assists than Dixon at 13, while serving in five aces. Johanna Martin sent back seven blocks, with Kenyatta Thomas and Amelia Johnigan each adding five. Quiara Dunson and MacKenzie Wells led the back row with 11 digs apiece.
UWA couldn't have asked for a better start as they scored the first eight points of the match. Fisher started the night with a kill and after a solo block by Johnigan, Van Dyke's service ace had the Tigers ahead at 8-0. UWA controlled the set throughout, as after the Wolves made one last push to get back to within eight at 21-13, Dixon tallied a kill and then three attack errors sent the Tigers to the 25-15 opening set win.
With the second set tied at four, UWA opened up some breathing room going on a 4-0 spurt. Dixon started the run with a kill and after a few errors by the Wolves, Johnigan added a service ace. A Fisher kill at 13-8 had the advantage out to five and after stretching the lead out to seven, UWG started to make a comeback. The Wolves fought back to within two at 20-18, but a service error and then kill by Dixon swung momentum back to the Tigers. Thomas moved UWA to set point at 24-21 and then Dixon continued her strong play in the set cutting off another UWG run with a kill at 25-23.
The Wolves responded to start the third set jumping out to the 11-3 lead. UWA answered back with a quick 5-0 run with the block party continuing by Dixon, Martin and Nathalia Medeiros and then Johnigan capped the run with a service ace at 11-8. The Wolves remained in control all the way until 21-17. Another block followed, this time by Martin and Dixon that ignited a 4-1 run. Martin and Thomas followed with a double-block and then kills from Dixon and Fisher left UWG clinging to the 22-21 third set lead. After UWG moved to set point at 24-23, Fisher tied the set with a kill and then she took over. Fisher added two more kills to close out the set and the match at 26-24.
The win against the Wolves snaps a three-game losing streak in the series for the Tigers and improves UWA to 8-3 at home in the series since 2009.
UWA will have a quick turnaround as they will host Valdosta State tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon for a 2 p.m. match inside Pruitt Hall.
