LIVINGSTON, Ala. – The West Alabama volleyball team continued to show resiliency fighting back to force a decisive fifth set against Valdosta State on Saturday afternoon inside Pruitt Hall. After the Tigers pushed the game to a decisive fifth, the Blazers were able to survive for the 3-2 win (26-24, 18-25, 25-19, 23-25, 15-13) in Gulf South Conference action.

There were over 300 total attacks, 111 kills, 31 service aces, 105 assists and 134 digs. UWA (6-15, 1-8 GSC) tallied 57 kills to 21 errors in 165 attempts to hit .218. VSU (8-14, 2-7 GSC) came away with 54 kills to 22 errors in 138 attempts to hit .232. UWA opened with 16 kills in the first set, 15 more in the second and then added 12 more in the fourth. The Tigers ended up holding the edge in kills (57-54), and blocks (9-6).

Individually, Nathalia Medeiros led the way with 13 kills, with Chyna Dixon adding 12 kills and Madison Fisher with 11. Amelia Johnigan gave the Tigers four with double-digits in kills with 10. Dixon added another double-double with 20 assists. Maddie Van Dyke had a team-high 26 assists. Quiara Dunson spun in seven service aces, while Kenyatta Thomas had seven blocks and Johanna Martin added five. MacKenzie Wells collected 16 digs on the back row, Fisher with 13 for the double-double and Dunson added 10 digs.

It took awhile for either team to get any separation in the opening set before Valdosta State moved out to the 14-11 lead. Fisher answered with a kill and after an attack error, spun in a service ace to even the set at 14. Trailing 16-14, UWA kept coming with a 4-0 run as Medeiros tallying two kills, Martin with a kill and then a service ace from Johnigan had the Tigers looking at an 18-16 lead. UWA kept pushing towards an opening set win, moving to 22-19 on a kill by Dixon and after holding a 23-22 lead off a kill by Fisher, the Blazers responded with the next two points to move to set point. The Tigers extended the set with a kill by Thomas, but two straight points by Valdosta State sent the Blazers to the 26-24 opening set win.

The second set was very similar to the opening set. After the first nearly 30 combined points with the teams separated by a point, the Tigers started to make a move. Dixon collected two straight kills to stretch the UWA lead to 17-14. Leading 20-17, Dixon and Medeiros tallied kills, before an attack error pushed UWA to the 23-17 lead. A service error gave one point back to the Blazers, but UWA refocused getting an attack error point to move to set point which Martin finished with a kill for the 25-18 second set win.

VSU jumped out early in the third set at 7-3. They continued with the momentum moving ahead 12-6. A service error helped ignite a 6-0 run for UWA to pull the Tigers back to within a point. Johnigan and Thomas combined for a block, Wells added a service error and after another double-block by Johnigan and Thomas, Johnigan tallied a kill to leave VSU just ahead at 15-14. The Blazers came back with a 6-0 run to move ahead 21-14. Another double-block by Johnigan and Medeiros brought UWA back to within four at 22-18, but the Blazers kept the pressure going to take third set at 25-19.

VSU moved ahead at 9-6 early in the fourth set, just to watch UWA reel off the next 10 points. Thomas started the run with a kill. Thomas and Martin collected back-to-back blocks, Dunson spun in a trio of service aces and then kills by Thomas and Fisher put down kills for the 16-9 lead for the Tigers. Valdosta State didn't go away, coming back to eventually tie the set at 23. UWA then took advantage of a service error to move to set point, with Dunson adding another service ace to give UWA the 25-23 fourth set win to send the match to a decisive fifth set.

A ball handling error and then double-block by Johnigan and Thomas gave UWA the first two points of the fifth set. VSU caught fire after that going on a 6-2 run. Out of a UWA timeout, the Tigers came back with the next two points on a kill by Johnigan and service ace by Thomas. Trailing 8-4, UWA dug deep with the next three points with Johnigan adding a kill and then two errors had the Tigers back to within one at 8-7. VSU answered that run with a 3-0 run to move in front 11-7. After moving ahead 13-9, UWA again fought back. Medeiros posted a kill and then two kills from Fisher had UWA back to within one at 13-12. A service error moved VSU to match point, but Fisher answered with a kill to extend the match at 14-13. After a rally, Valdosta State was able to close the match with a kill from Jojo Smith for the 15-13 fifth set win.

Smith led Valdosta State with a match-high 20 kills, with Mackenzie Murray adding 15 kills. Audrey Bennett dished out 29 assists, Olivia Piazza had 29 digs, Christina Pettigrew with five blocks and Ramsey Marshall with four service aces.

UWA will now prepare for the Regional Crossover that will take place Oct. 14-15 in Birmingham. A full schedule of the crossover will be released this week.