Nov. 10, 2006
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - Seventh seed West Florida was one point away from advancing to the NCAA Division II South Central Region Tournament finals. But third seed and 17th ranked Central Missouri staved off three Argonaut match points and earned a 3-2 (28-30, 30-26, 30-14, 26-30, 19-17) win in Friday's semifinals. West Florida (20-15) nearly defeated their second ranked opponent in as many days. Central Missouri (29-6) advanced to the finals to face the winner of the Truman State-North Alabama match.
"We played well at times, but the thing that hurt us was game two and not being able to put Central Missouri away," said head coach Melissa Wolter. "I felt like we made some good adjustments after game three, and we put ourselves in a position to win. That is all you can ask for."
With the match tied at two, Central Missouri opened up an 8-5 lead in the fifth game. Central Missouri eventually led 11-8, but West Florida responded with 5-0 run on three Naiara Fernandes (Belo Horizonte, Brazil/Lee Univ.) kills, a Jerica Carter (Gainesville, Fla./Gainesville HS) service ace and a Central Missouri attack error. With the Argonauts leading 13-11, the Jennies Jillian Ohrman responded with a pair of kills to tie the game at 13. A Fernandes kill gave West Florida match point at 14-13, but Ohrman tied the match with a kill. After another Fernandes kill gave West Florida another match point at 15-14, Lauren Nuckolls recorded a kill to retie the match. Carly Moyers (Eden Prairie, Minn./Louisiana Tech) gave the Argonauts their third match point opportunity after a kill, however Jacquelyn Williams kept the Jennies alive with a kill. After a Fernandes attack error gave Central Missouri their first match point opportunity, Andrea Robertson appeared to give the Jennies the win with a kill. However, an attack error was called and the match was tied at 17. After a Robertson kill, an Argonaut attack error gave Central Missouri the match victory.
The first game was competitive as neither team held more than a four-point advantage. With Central Missouri leading 22-20, West Florida went on a 4-0 run on three consecutive kills by Fernandes and a Carter service ace. After a Louann Rusch (Homestead, Fla./Westminster Christian) kill gave West Florida game point at 29-27, Robertson kept Central Missouri alive with a kill. But Moyers sealed with game one win with a kill.
The second game featured 15 ties and six lead changes. Similar to the first game, neither team held more than a four-point lead. With West Florida leading 22-21, Central Missouri went on a 4-0 run to take a 25-22 lead. West Florida responded by tying the game on consecutive kills by Fernandes and a kill by Sarah Harrison (Sinton, Texas/Sinton HS). Central Missouri immediately responded by scoring three straight points. An Argonaut attack error at Central Missouri game point tied the match at one.
Central Missouri dominated from beginning to end in game three. The Jennies jumped out to a 10-5 lead and never looked back. Central Missouri recorded 17 kills on 31 total attacks with no errors to post a .548 hitting percentage.
Trailing two games to one, West Florida fell behind early in game four. Central Missouri went on a 5-0 run to lead 10-3. But the Argonauts chipped away at the lead and eventually took a 21-20 lead on a Moyers kill. After a Katie Tarka kill retied the game at 21, West Florida went on a 5-0 run on the service on Calli Kovel (Joliet, Ill./Charleston Southern). With West Florida leading 29-24, Central Missouri stayed in the game by scoring three consecutive points. But Moyers took a set from Marcela Cunha (Curitiba, Brazil/Northern Kentucky) to record the kill and send the match to the decisive fifth game.
"It is unfortunate that we fought so hard and did not come out on top," said Danielle Spitzer (Birmingham, Ala./Western Carolina). "Looking back on the season, I felt that finally we put it all together today and we proved what we can do."
Fernandes set individual match school records with 34 kills and 87 total attacks. She finished the tournament with 60 kills on 149 total attacks in two matches. Fernandes ends her West Florida career third all-time with 962 kills. Spitzer recorded a career-high 16 kills, while Moyers finished with 14 kills. Carter matched a career-high with 26 digs. Cunha's 65 assists were the second-highest individual match total in school history. Nuckolls led Central Missouri with 20 kills, while Ohrman totaled 19 kills and 17 digs.
West Florida set a school record with 74 assists and tied a school record with 234 total attacks. The Argonauts 77 kills were also the fifth-highest single match total.
"We always believed that we were going to be here," said Fernandes. "We always set the bar high, but it was not easy. This program will be back next year."
Wolter summarized West Florida's 2006 season. "We took our hits early in the season, and it was the first time our program had played top-notch schools," said Wolter. "If we had not played those schools, I think we would have had a different result in this tournament. It is about learning, and we are so much better now than when the season started. I am excited that these young women will have some awesome memories from this season."
