LIVINGSTON, Ala. – The University of West Alabama volleyball team, despite being up two sets to none, was defeated by the University of Montevallo in five sets Wednesday night from Pruitt Hall in Gulf South Conference action. 

Montevallo snapped a three-match losing skid with the win and improved to 9-15 and 7-4 in conference play. UWA drops to 4-21 and 1-10. 

UWA got the match going on the right foot. After being forced to side-out after the first point on an Allie Dishman kill, the Tigers won the next six points thanks to spikes by Ally Craig and Amelia Johnigan and an assisted block by Mya Carter and Johnigan. Following an ace with Craig behind the line and an attack error by UM, Craig dished out another ace for the 6-1 lead. 

From there, West Alabama was in control, as the Tigers used a 6-1 run later in the set to extend its lead to 16-8. However, Montevallo used a 10-3 run of their own to cut the deficit from eight points to one. 

The Tigers kept momentum in their favor after a Jaida Alvin kill and a Falcon attack error, but the visitors evened the match up for the first time since it was 1-1 with three straight points thanks to kills by Macy Martin and Ally Koontz. 

Tied at 21, West Alabama won four of the final five points to take the first set, 25-22. 

West Alabama and Montevallo went back and forth in the second stanza. Ahead 6-5, UWA strung together an 8-2 run to swell the lead to 14-7. 

Later in the frame, the Tigers made it set point with kills by Martin and three errors on the Falcons' end of the ball to increase the lead to 24-15. UM would side-out and post a kill by Morgan Hoffman and a bad set by UWA, but a service error on the next play gave the home team the 2-0 advantage. 

The third set saw West Alabama post 14 kills to Montevallo's seven. However, UM, trailing 22-20, won the match 25-23 thanks to mistakes by UWA. 

The fourth set saw the light switch click on and stay on for the Falcons, jumping out to a 13-3 lead. The Tigers cut the deficit to six, 23-17, but the visitors claimed the final two points to force a deciding fifth set. 

In the final frame, UM won the first five points. After an Ally Craig kill to get the Tigers on the board, the Falcons never changed rotation, winning the last 10 points to take set number five, 15-10, and the match, 3-2. 

In the first three sets, West Alabama posted 35 kills to Montevallo's 29, but in the last two, the Falcons shifted the momentum on the front row with 24 kills to the Tigers' 10. 

UWA recorded its eighth match of the season with double digits in service aces with 13 on Wednesday night. The Tigers, on the other end, matched their season-low in reception errors with four. 

Ally Craig led the Tigers, matching her season-high in kills with 14, adding eight digs and three aces, while Quiara Dunson contributed a team high 17 digs. 

Jaida Alvin tied her career best in aces with four as she tallied a double-double with 12 kills and 11 digs, while Berfin Mertcan tallied her third 30-assist contest with a career-high 35 and added 13 digs and three service aces. 

UM was led by Colton Thompson, who assisted on 38 kills and added 18 digs for the double-double. Alex Koontz also posted a match-high 16 digs and committed just three errors on 31 swings for a .419 percentage. 

West Alabama will hit the road on Saturday afternoon to take on the University of Alabama in Huntsville for a GSC match. First serve is set for 2 p.m. in Huntsville.