LIVINGSTON, Ala. - The University of West Alabama Volleyball team prepares for their third conference match of the season on Tuesday as the Tigers travel to Huntsville, Alabama for a 6:00 p.m. contest against the Alabama Huntsville Chargers.
West Alabama (1-11, 0-2 GSC) enters Tuesday's play after suffering a defeat at the hands of Mississippi College on Friday while Alabama Huntsville (12-1, 3-0 GSC) comes in after sweeping Mississippi College, Lee, and Trevecca Nazarene last week.
A young Tigers team has struggled with attack and service errors, 12 matches into the season, resulting in a .018 team hitting percentage and a total of 141 service errors.
Jaida Alvin continues to be the lifeline of the UWA offense as the sophomore remains the team leader in points and kills with 92.0 and 79. Alongside Alvin,
Peyton Quesnel has emerged as an offensive option for the Tigers. The sophomore Outside Hitter has registered 23 kills in the last four matches, recording a career-high eight kills in two of those matches against Stillman and Mississippi College.
Setter
Taylor Lamontagne has put together a solid freshman campaign thus far as she leads West Alabama with 150 assists, while also dumping over 11 kills. The freshman's service game has been a weapon for a UWA offense that's struggled to produce points as Lamontagne enters Tuesday's matchup with 10 service aces which ranks second on the team.
While Lamontagne is the 'quarterback' of the offense, fellow freshman
Maggie Roddam is the anchor defensively. Roddam carries the team lead with 98 digs, recording 2.58 digs per set. The freshman Libero has recorded double-digit digs in five games thus far and will most likely need to record another one on Tuesday night if the Tigers want to upset a talented Alabama Huntsville team on the road.
The West Florida Argonauts have been the standard for Volleyball in the Gulf South for years, but Alabama Huntsville is a team that is emerging and has a real shot to unseat the Argos. UAH came into the 2024 season after falling in straight sets to UWF in the GSC Championship match last year.
Reeling off of their 2023 campaign, the Chargers have begun the new season 12-1 and returned their top players from the previous year. Autumn Mayes is the leader of a loaded Alabama Huntsville roster. In 2023, Mayes transferred to the Chargers, returned to her Outside Hitter position, and proceeded to record 289 kills, 347 digs, and 51 blocks, leading to an AVCA All-American Honorable Mention selection and a First team All-GSC selection. Mayes has picked up right where she left off in the 2024 campaign as the senior currently leads UAH with 130 kills while sitting in second in digs with 195.
On top of getting Mayes back for the 2024 season, Alabama Huntsville also returned Mary Grace Bundrant and Tatiana Bonilla. Bundrant took the conference by storm as a true freshman last season as the Middle Blocker led the GSC with 122 blocks which also stands as the most blocks in a single-season in UAH Volleyball history. The sophomore is already up to 63 blocks in the new campaign which ranks second in the league. As for Bonilla, she returns as the Chargers' Libero after leading Alabama Huntsville with 376 digs last year. The senior is on pace to surpass that dig count in 2024 as she comes into Tuesday's matchup against the Tigers with 201 digs on the year, currently ranking second in the conference.
First serve for Tuesday's GSC matchup between West Alabama and Alabama Huntsville is set for 6:00 p.m. from Spragins Hall in Huntsville, Alabama.
