Florence, AL - The UAH charge toward the 2000 Gulf South Conference tournament title came to an end Saturday night with a 3-0 loss to the powerful 11th ranked Lady Lions of North Alabama. With the win, not only did UNA (36-2) earn the chance to defend their GSC title for the fifth time, but they continued their 35 match winning streak.

Jana Ninova led UNA with 18 kills, while Nesrin Seckin added 17. Ashley Moffitt finished the match with 54 assists and 10 digs.

Ellen LaFiore paced UAH with 22 kills, while Lindsay Dunham tallied 10. Jane Baumgartner had 43 assists for the Lady Chargers.

UAH (22-14) played from behind all night after digging deep holes for themselves. In each game, UNA jumped out to big leads. In the opening game, the Lady Lions took a raced out to an 11-1 lead before UAH woke up. The Lady Chargers fought back to cut the lead to 12-6, but UNA held off the surge and took a 15-6 win.

The second game was the same story at the beginning, with UNA taking an early 7-0 lead. However, this time the Lady Chargers came roaring from behind. UAH actually took a 16-15 lead and had several chances to even the match. But, UNA got the next three points to win the second game 18-16.

The game two battle seemed to drain all of the energy out of the Lady Chargers. In the final game, UNA was at it again, rolling out to a 13-0 lead. However, this time the Lady Chargers couldn’t muster a comeback. The Lady Lions clinched the match with a 15-3 win.

In the quarter final match, UAH came from behind to knock off Henderson State 3-1 in the tournament semifinals. The Lady Chargers lost the first game 15-11, but rebounded to beat the Lady Reddies 15-10, 15-9 and 15-11.

The victory capped a season sweep of Henderson State for the first time in UAH volleyball history. It was also the first time the Lady Chargers had eliminated the Lady Reddies in the GSC tournament. Previously, Henderson State had sent the Lady Chargers packing three different times.

Five Lady Chargers finished the game with double figure kills. Ellen LaFiore led the way with 27, while Lindsay Dunham and Melissa Feldman had 12 each. Erin Denny and Whitney Mock finished the match with 10 kills apiece. Feldman also had 18 digs. Dunham had 13 and LaFiore 12. Jane Baumgartner dished out 62 assists in the match.