Aug. 25, 2006
PENSACOLA, Fla. - It was a disappointing start to West Florida's 2006 season, as South Dakota spoiled the opener for the Argos 3-2 (26-30, 30-22, 28-30, 30-20, 15-4). However, UWF won't have much time to think about this afternoon's loss that took nearly two-and-a-half hours to play. The Argos resume play tonight at 7 pm against Southern Indiana.
The Argos were led by Fernandes who collected 16 kills and 14 digs. Carly Moyers added 16 digs and Judit Vass received 24 digs. South Dakota out-attacked West Florida with a .246 hitting percentage to UWF's .132.
West Florida had a two games to one advantage, but could not close out South Dakota in games four or five. South Dakota ran away with the match in the fifth game. A service error by USD gave UWF an early 1-0 lead. South Dakota proceeded to go on a 10-0 run, and that proved to be too much to overcome in the shortened 15-point fifth game.
Falling behind early was an issue for the Argonauts in game four as well. South Dakota went ahead 9-3. Four consecutive attack errors put the Argos in a bind. West Florida answered with four straight points, including three errors from USD and a kill by Danielle Spitzer. That was as close as UWF would get for the remainder of game four. South Dakota tallied 14 kills from that point on.
The momentum turned to West Florida's favor in game three following a gallant come back. No lead exceeded more than four points in the game. The Argos' back was against the wall, down 27-24. An attack error by USD was followed by a UWF service error. That would be South Dakota's final point of the game. Kills from Louann Rusch and Naiara Fernandes cut the deficit to one. Rusch followed with a service ace, and another attack error by USD gave UWF the lead. Fernandes connected on another kill, assisted by Melina Pereira to give the Argos the game three win.
South Dakota gradually pulled from UWF in game two. The Argos last lead in the game came at 4-3, and USD went on a 13-4 run. West Florida battled back to cut the lead to 19-16. The run was spirited by three kills from Sarah Harrison. However, attack errors plagued UWF for the rest of the game.
West Florida started the match on a 5-1 run in game one. They led the entire way, leading by as many as seven. Moyers and Fernandes set the tempo early in the game by scoring at will. The Argos led 25-18 equaling their largest lead. South Dakota answered by going on a 6-1 to make things interesting. A pair of kills by Moyers got UWF back on track en route to the win.
West Florida slips to 0-1, while South Dakota moves to 1-1. Ashland defeated USD earlier this morning. The Comfort Inn-vitational consists of 9 teams. Each team will play two games on Friday and Saturday. Here is a rundown of today's final scores:
Lewis 3 Edinboro 0
Ashland 3 South Dakota 2
Lewis 3 Eckerd 0
Northwood 3 West Georgia 1
Southern Indiana 3 Edinboro 1
South Dakota 3 West Florida 2
