LIVINGSTON, Ala. - The University of West Alabama Volleyball team continues their road trip on Thursday as the Tigers head to Montgomery for a 6:00 PM matchup against the AUM Warhawks before returning home on Friday for a 6:00 p.m. matchup against Mississippi College.

West Alabama (1-9, 0-1 GSC) comes into Thursday's matchup after a loss to Montevallo on Tuesday while AUM (3-6, 0-0 GSC) enters on a three-game losing streak with their latest loss coming to Shorter on Saturday. As for Mississippi College (2-6, 0-1 GSC) they enter on a six-match losing streak with their latest loss coming to UAH on Tuesday.

The Tigers dropped their GSC Opener against the Falcons on Tuesday but they have shown vast improvements from where they were to begin the season in early September. Earlier in the season, Jaida Alvin produced the bulk of the offensive production for UWA, but now, KB Kinney has emerged as a solid offensive option for West Alabama. After recording a combined 14 kills in the last two matches, the freshman is now up to 40 kills on the year, which ranks second amongst the team behind Alvin. 

Alvin is still the leader of this Tigers' team as the sophomore Outside Hitter continues to hold the team lead for kills and sits second in digs with 67 and 77, respectively. Freshman Taylor Lamontagne has been setting up majority of Alvin's kills as she leads West Alabama in assists with 118.

While the offense has been spotty through the first 10 matches, UWA's defense has been solid which bodes well for a matchup against an AUM team that has also struggled on the offensive side.

In the 2023 season, the Warhawks were one of the best teams in the GSC, finishing the year with a 24-9 overall record and making a trip to the GSC Semifinals. The AUM team that UWA will see on Thursday is a completely different unit as the Warhawks lost their head coach Flavia Siqueria and their top players in Myllena Torquetti, Alesia Cappai, and the 2023 Libero of the year, Kaleigh Fitzgerald to Georgia State to this past offseason. The new leader of the program is Craig Case and he fields talented players such as Maya Thompson and Kendal McCain on this Warhawks roster. Thompson and McCain are both returners for AUM in 2024, with Thompson leading the team with 94 kills thus far. McCain was a freshman sensation in 2022 and now as a junior, has recorded 73 kills through AUM's first nine matches, ranking second on the team.

With the Warhawks losing top end talent in the offseason, they will need Thompson and McCain to have All-GSC type of seasons if they want to compete deep into November again.

As for Mississippi College, they've gotten off to an uncharacteristic start in 2024, dropping six of their eight matches. Even though they've struggled to begin, the Choctaws possess one of the best players in the conference on their roster in Lydia Paulette. Paulette has been a staple in Mississippi College's lineup for four years now as the senior's recorded 1,059 kills over the course of her career which ranks second all-time in Mississippi College Volleyball history. This season, the Outside Hitter is off to another fast start as she leads the team and ranks third in the league with 122 kills on a .199 hitting percentage while leading the GSC in kills per set with 4.07. 

Other than Paulette, Libero Samarin Kipple has put together a solid start to the new campaign. Kipple has anchored the Choctaws' back line, leading the team with 112 digs and sitting fifth in the conference with 3.73 digs per set.

First serve for Thursday's road matchup against AUM is set for 6:00 p.m. while Friday's home matchup against Mississippi College is also set for 6:00 p.m.