Oct. 10, 2006
VALDOSTA, Ga. - West Florida looked as though they would sweep the two game regular season series from Valdosta State following game one's easy win. The Blazers turned the momentum to their favor throughout the remainder of the match and defeated favored Argos, 3-1 (19-30, 30-17, 30-27, 30-28). West Florida had won six straight and 11 of their last 12 coming into tonight's match.
The Argos had no answers for Laura Lee Atkinson, who connected on 19 kills with 15 digs and six blocks. The Blazers won the defensive battle by limiting UWF to a .085 attack percentage. West Florida held Valdosta State to a .220 hitting percentage. The Blazers collected 82 digs to UWF's 74.
"We just couldn't score," stated UWF Head Coach Melissa Wolters. "They played really well after game one, and we didn't make any adjustments."
West Florida was led by Naiara Fernandes (Belo Horizonte, Brazil/Lee Univ.) who paced UWF with 18 kills and 10 digs. Marcela Cunha (Curitiba, Brazil/Northern Kentucky) tallied 26 assists and 13 digs. Jerica Carter (Gainesville, Fla./Gainesville HS) had 28 digs.
Game two was the turning point. The Blazers got hot offensively and pounded out a .426 attack percentage to the Argos' .026. West Florida failed to break .100 in games three and four.
West Florida slips to 14-9 overall and 6-2 in the conference. Valdosta State moves to 12-12 overall and 4-3 in the GSC. West Florida will play four matches this Friday and Saturday at the Henderson State Classic in Arkadelphia, Ark. They play Truman State on Friday at 9:30 am.
