The Lady Charger volleyball season will continue despite a loss to UNA in the Gulf South Conference semifinals. The Lady Chargers will head to Kirksville, Mo. this weekend for the South Central region tournament. It's the Lady Chargers' third invitation to the regionals in four years.

UAH (28-8) will be the fourth seed in the tournament and face fifth seed and GSC tournament runner-up Henderson State on Thursday in the first round. The Lady Chargers and Lady Reddies met twice this season with UAH coming out on top in both matches.

Other teams in the tournament are No. 1 Truman State, second seed UNA, No. 3 Central Missouri State and the sixth seed Albany State (GA). With the exception of Albany State, the Lady Chargers have faced the rest of the tournament field. The Lady Chargers lost to Truman State in five games after leading the match 2-0. The Lady Chargers also lost in five to Central Missouri State in only their second defeat of the season. Against GSC East rival UNA, the Lady Chargers have come up empty in three tries, including the loss in the GSC semifinal.

Combined, the Lady Chargers are 2-5 against the South Central Region field, however, that record could have just as easily been 4-3 or better.

In the GSC tournament, the Lady Chargers had their chances. In two previous meetings with rival North Alabama, it was a total knockout. This time, the Lady Chargers were in the game. In fact, for much of the match, the Lady Chargers had victory within their grasp. But, UAH couldn’t finish the job and the defending champion Lions got away with a 3-0 sweep (boxscore)in the semifinals of the Gulf South Conference volleyball championships in Arkadelphia, Ark.

After losing the first game 30-24, the Lady Chargers led the second and third games late. In fact, UAH led by as much as nine in game two and led 29-27 with the serve. However, UNA got off the deck and outscored the Lady Chargers 4-0 to win the game 31-29.

With their backs against the wall, UAH came out firing in the third game, leading by as much as six points. UAH led 26-25, but couldn’t score again. “We just couldn’t pass sharp enough to put the game away, and you have to pass against teams like UNA,” Taube said about the Lady Chargers inability to close out the Lions. UNA went on to take the match 30-26.

Senior middle blocker Ellen LaFiore led the Lady Chargers with 18 kills. Lindsay Dunham and Kristian Kleminsky added 10 each. Nesrin Seckin and Yana Ninova had 16 kills each to pace UNA.

Lady Chargers eliminate ATU en route to GSC semis

Earlier in the day, the Lady Chargers won their first round match against Arkansas Tech 30-24, 30-23, 30-20 (boxscore) sweep of Arkansas Tech. The UAH defense limited ATU to a .098 hitting percentage for the match. Meanwhile, the Lady Chargers hit .314 and outscored the Golden Suns 54 kills to 37. The Lady Chargers also had seven service aces.

LaFiore paced the Lady Charger attack with 16 kills. Lindsay Dunham followed with 13 and Erin Denny added 11. Melissa Feldmann finished with 17 digs and six blocks to go with eight kills and two aces. Baumgartner had 49 assists in the match.

Lady Chargers win final home match

Senior night got a bit hairy for the Lady Chargers on Tuesday. The Lady Chargers had invited a stubborn opponent into Spragins Hall for their going away party, visiting Christian Brothers made life tough. However, in the end, UAH came out with a 30-26, 30-24, 33-31 (boxscore) sweep in front of an enthusiastic home crowd.

“It’s nice for the seniors to go out on a winning note,” said UAH head coach Laura Taube. Taube also felt like the hard-fought battle will help her team in the coming conference tournament.

“It was a great match to play right before going to the GSC tournament. I think we’re going to be focused and we’re going to play hard.”

Senior hitter Lindsay Dunham led UAH with 13 kills. Senior middle blocker and sophomore middle blocker Melissa Feldmann had 11 kills each. LaFiore also had 10 digs. Senior setter Jane Baumgartner had 43 assists for the Lady Chargers, while sophomore hitter Cathryn Sterling finished with a game-high 17 digs.

This Week's Matches: at South Central Region Tournament, Nov. 16-18, Kirksville, MO

AVCA Poll (11/6/01)

Rank	School (First-Place-Votes)	Pts	Record	LW
1	West Texas A&M (27)	867	27-2	1
2	Truman (8)			842	34-1	2
3	North Alabama 		754	28-3	4
4	North Dakota State 		747	28-3	6
5	Cal State-San Bernardino	693	26-2	3
6	Barry			684	24-2	9
7	University of Tampa		675	23-3	5
8	South Dakota State 		668	23-4	7
9	Metro State		633	25-4	8
10	Western State, Colo.		573	24-3	10
11	Nebraska-Kearney 		536	26-4	11
12	Regis			460	23-7	12
13	Central Missouri State	420	24-5	14
14	Northern Kentucky		386	24-4	15
15-tie	Augustana, S.D.		370	20-8	16
15-tie	Hawai'i Pacific 		370	17-4	13
17	Grand Valley State		334	26-3	17
18	UC San Diego		273	19-6	20
19	Rockhurst			232	31-4	19
20	Cal State-Bakersfield		174	18-7	22
21	North Florida		170	22-7	21
22	Alabama-Huntsville		154	26-7	23
23	Western Washington		151	22-4	18
24	Findlay			56	28-5	NR
25	Montevallo		33	29-8	25

Others receiving points and listed on two or more ballots:
Cameron (31), Northern Michigan (20), Cal State L.A. (19), Mercy (19), 
Armstrong Atlantic State (7), Northwood (7), St. Edward's (3).