LIVINGSTON, Ala. – The University of West Alabama volleyball team extinguished the Lane College Dragons in a non-conference battle, dropping the visitors in straight sets, Tuesday evening from Pruitt Hall.
The Tigers swept the season series from the Dragons after defeating them in four sets on Sept. 14 in Jackson, Tennessee.
"Tonight was an all-around team performance, but as a whole, it has to be the team first that comes together, and I really felt like we did that. We did a lot of communication. It was good momentum for us going back on the road this weekend," said head coach
John Schmidt.
With the victory, West Alabama snapped its five-match losing streak and improved to 4-15, while Lane dropped to 7-20.
Set number one started out strong for the home team, winning six of the first eight points. Trailing 15-6, the Dragons sparked a rally that saw the visitors earn its first kill of the night from Maia Thompson.
Leading 17-11, following a Lane service error, the Tigers won the next three points with
Jaida Alvin behind the line, posting back-to-back service aces and an attack error.
The Dragons got back into the set with five of the next six points to make it a 21-16 affair, but four straight points by the Tigers, including a block by
Mya Carter and
Johanna Martin, converted the first set.
Lane started the second set strong to put the home team in a hole early. After an Alvin kill started the scoring for UWA, the Dragons won the next four points and eight of the next nine to sprint out to an 8-2 lead.
The Tigers started chipping away at the deficit from there. Trailing 12-6, back-to-back spikes by Alvin and a
Quiara Dunson service ace made it a 12-9 score. The rally stayed the home team after a Lane attack error to make it a 12-10 score.
Unfortunately for the Tigers, the Dragons did get the side-out and won four of the next five points. However, UWA came storming back with two aces and kills from
Chyna Dixon and
Ally Craig to cut what was an 8-2 deficit to 16-15.
Lane made it a 20-17 advantage, but that did not last long. West Alabama strung together six points out of seven. Tied at 20, Alvin gave UWA the lead for the first time with a kill.
After Lane tied it a 21 on the next rally, UWA left no doubt, as the home team won four of the final points, including back-to-back on an
Amelia Johnigan kill and a bad set by Lane to make the match 2-0 in favor of UWA.
Set number three was a see-saw battle on both ends. After UWA tied the match at seven points apiece thanks to a
Peyton Quesnel, Lane won six of the next eight points to make it a 13-9 lead.
Trailing 17-14, UWA had a kill from
Makenzie Widmer to get the Tigers to side out. Following kills by Alvin and Dixon, the home team was back in front, 18-17.
Later, tied at 21, the Tigers finished off the set with kills from Craig and Johnson to secure the match to end the five-match losing skid.
Jaida Alvin led all attackers with 12 kills on 29 swings for a .241 percentage. The freshman also picked up the double-double, her fourth of the season with 10 digs. In addition, she also had four of the team's 10 service aces.
On Alvin's front-row attack, "I remember going over the film, and he [Schmidt] reminded us what spots are open and where to be aggressive. I was speaking to my setters and telling them to bring the ball out so that I could hit those shots."
Helping Alvin out on the back row was junior
Quiara Dunson, who led the match with 12 digs.
"She's a great libero. We always try to communicate with each other. That helps us excel in our defensive game," said Alvin.
Chyna Dixon also had a double-double with 15 assists and 10 kills and added seven digs.
Lane, who was limited to 20 kills and committed 10 service errors, was led in scoring by Maia Thompson with six kills and 2.5 blocks.
The Tigers will resume Gulf South Conference play this weekend with a trip to the Peach State, starting in Carrollton with West Georgia on Friday night.
"We plan to focus on the little things and hustling everywhere. We can hang with anybody in the conference. Our problem is that we are not getting in the right spots, which gives our opponents the advantage. For us to have more confidence as we go, we have to make the small things better to do the right things on the court and keep us in the game," said Schmidt.
First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. CT.
