Aug. 25, 2007
PENSACOLA, Fla. - West Florida Volleyball has started the 2007 season 4-0, with wins this weekend over Flagler College, Southern Indiana, Wheeling Jesuit, and Midwestern State at the UWF Fieldhouse. The Argos dropped only one game in the four matches, with three of the wins being 3-0. Tournament MVP Isabela Gualberto (Sr. / Brazil) led the Argo attack with 59 kills, and an Attack Pct over .300. Outside Hitter Kimberly Clark (Jr./ St. Petersburg, Fla.), Setter Madeline Gonzalez (Jr. / Puerto Rico), and Libero Jerica Carter (Sr. / Gainesville, Fla.) also made the All-tournament team, as the Argos placed four out of the eight All Tournament spots in the six team tournament.
Coach Melissa Wolter was very pleased with her teams' performance stating, "everybody played well, it's a very good start to our season, and I think this will be a very fun year." She also stated that she sees some things to work on as the team gets ready for their next matches. The Argos travel to the Nanook Classic Tournament in Fairbanks, Alaska for weekend matches against Humboldt State, Alaska-Fairbanks, and Hawaii-Hilo.
For now, UWF can celebrate a great start to the 2007 season. The Argos solid play this weekend came from all aspects. Superlative attacking from Outside Hitters Gualberto and Clark was set up with some outstanding passing. Coach Wolter may have summed it up best as she exclaimed "Maddie (Madeline Gonzalez) ran the floor real well and Jerica (Carter) had some amazing digs." In fact, Carter had a tournament high 67 digs, while Gonzalez had a tournament high of 171 assists.
Despite the domination in the tournament by the Argos, this tournament included five teams with winning records last season. Wolter explained, "this was a very strong tournament, with some really good teams, and it had a lot of five-set matches." The Argos didn't need to go five games for any of their wins and it may have been because one big advantage the Argos have is depth. While other teams level of play dropped off with bench players in the game, the Argos just brought more weapons. Senior Danielle Spitzer (Birmingham, Ala.) and Freshmen Kara Gonzalez (St. Augustine, Fla.) added outstanding performances when they were in the game. Coach Wolter was very excited by the play of Gonzalez, as she stated, "she is going to be very good, and this was kind of her coming out performance." In limited time, Gonzalez had 12 kills in only 18 attacks.
The Argos play again at home on September 7th, 8th, and 9th , when they host the Argonaut Regional Crossover. UWF will have matches against Emporia State, Rollins College, Tampa, and Florida Southern. The first match is Friday September 7th at 7:30 pm in the UWF Fieldhouse.
