Nov. 4, 2006
FLORENCE, Ala. - Katelin Parks totaled a match-high 17 kills as Gulf South Conference West top seed Harding posted a 3-0 (30-24, 30-24, 30-15) win over GSC East number two seed West Florida Saturday in the semifinals of the GSC Tournament. West Florida (19-14) must wait to find out if they will advance to the NCAA Division II South Central Regional Tournament. Harding (24-8) advanced to the finals to face North Alabama.
With Harding leading 17-16 in game one, the Lady Bisons scored five consecutive points. West Florida was unable to recover as a Katie Westmoreland block gave Harding game point. After a Carly Moyers (Eden Prairie, Minn./Louisiana Tech) kill kept the Argonauts alive, a Westmoreland kill gave Harding the game one win.
Harding jumped out to a 7-3 lead in game two, but West Florida rebounded to cut the deficit to 12-10. However, West Florida would not get any closer. A pair of kills by Moyers and a kill by Sarah Harrison (Sinton, Texas/North Carolina-Pembroke) cut the Harding lead to 28-24. But kills by Westmoreland and Manuela Nesheva closed out the game two win for the Lady Bisons.
Harding dominated the third game as the Lady Bisons scored seven straight points and raced out to a 10-2 lead. West Florida was unable to get back in the match as three straight kills by Parks sealed the Harding win. Harding improved to 3-0 all-time against West Florida. All three wins have been in the GSC Tournament.
Moyers led West Florida with 13 kills, while Naiara Fernandes added 10 kills. Marcela Cunha (Curitiba, Brazil/Northern Kentucky) collected a team-high 32 assists. Along with Parks 17 kills, Westmoreland and Nesheva each totaled 11 kills.
The teams selected to participate in the NCAA Division II National Tournament will be announced on Sunday. Entering today's match, West Florida was ranked seventh in the south central region while Harding was ranked ninth.
