After being stunned earlier in the week by Montevallo (3-2), the Lady Chargers rebounded for a pair of wins over the Mississippi University for Women (3-1) and Lincoln Memorial (3-1) to finish the week with a 2-1 record.

Ellen LaFiore had 71 kills to lead the Lady Chargers during the week. She also had three service aces and 13 blocks. Jane Baumgartner piled up 179 assists, averaging 13.77 per game. Junior setter and hitter Cathryn Sterling paced the defense with 49 digs, including 25 against Lincoln Memorial.

Montevallo def. UAH 30-28, 26-30, 28-30, 31-29, 15-7

The University of Montevallo stunned the 21st ranked Lady Chargers 3-2 in a 5-game, toe-to-toe brawl. It marked the first time that the Lady Falcons had beaten UAH on its home floor since 1995.

The Lady Charger fans should have known things weren't right when the match was delayed over an hour because the Montevallo bus blew a tire. The match didn't get underway until 8:15 p.m. and by the time the smoke cleared, it was 10:23 p.m.

UAH outhit Montevallo 82-74, but the Lady Chargers finished the match hitting .241, while Montevallo hit .287.

When Coach Laura Taube looked at the statistics, she was puzzled. "How can we hit like this and lose," she said. After all, five players had double-figure kills and digs. Four of those were double-doubles.

Ellen LaFiore led the way with 22 kills and 16 digs. She also had four blocks. Freshman hitter Kristian Kleminsky finished with 16 kills and 10 digs, while Erin Denny had 15 kills. Melissa Feldmann tallied 13 kills and 13 digs, and Lindsay Dunham hammered home 13 kills and had 12 digs.

Last season, Jane Baumgartner set a new UAH record for assists in another 5-game war against Montevallo. On Tuesday, she piled up 68 assists against the Falcons.

The Lady Chargers knew they were in a fight right out of the blocks as Montevallo took game one 30-28. UAH rebounded in the next two games to win 30-26 and 30-28.

In game four, the Lady Chargers appeared to be pulling away from the Lady Falcons. A kill by LaFiore gave the Lady Chargers a 27-24 lead. Montevallo fought back, scoring three unanswered points. Christy Omiecinski's kill tied the game at 27-all. However, another LaFiore kill and an attack error by Omiecinski put the Lady Chargers at match point, 29-27.

But, the Lady Chargers couldn't put the game away. Montevallo scored the final four points and won the game 31-29 to force a fifth game.

The Lady Falcons' game four rally seemed to take the wind out of the home team's sails. Montevallo scored three points before a service error made the score 3-1. With the score tied at 5-5, Montevallo scored seven straight points to go ahead 12-5. The Lady Chargers never recovered.

UAH cut the lead to 12-7, but wouldn't score again. Montevallo went on to take the match 15-7.

UAH def. Mississippi Univ. for Women 28-30, 30-27, 30-23, 30-20

The Lady Chargers overcame a sluggish start to whip MUW 3-1 at Spragins Hall.

Perhaps still in shock after losing to Montevallo, the Lady Chargers came out flat in the first game against the Blues, falling 30-28. However, the loss seemed to wake up the Lady Chargers and they restored order in the final three games.

UAH got stronger with each win, taking game two 30-27, 30-23 in the third game, then rolling 30-20 in the clincher.

Senior middle blocker Ellen LaFiore led the way with 24 kills, while sophomore Melissa Feldmann added 12 and Erin Denny 10 with six blocks. Jane Baumgartner had 53 assists in the match.

UAH def. Lincoln Memorial 28-30, 30-22, 30-18, 30-25

The Lady Chargers tuned up for their big showdown with No. 3 North Alabama on Tuesday with a 3-1 win over Lincoln Memorial in Harrogate, Tenn.

The loss was the first of the season for the Lady Railsplitters, who fell to 13-1 overall and 3-1 in the Gulf South Conference. Meanwhile, Lady Chargers improved to 12-4 and 4-1.

Senior middle blocker Ellen LaFiore finished off a strong week individually, tallying 25 kills. Senior hitters Lindsay Dunham and Erin Denny followed with 17 and 15 kills respectively. Dunham also had 18 digs, while Denny had 11. Cathryn Sterling topped all defenders with 25 digs. Senior setter Jane Baumgartner finished the match with 58 assists.

Like their match against MUW, the Lady Chargers got off to a slow start, losing the first game 30-28. However, UAH dominated the final three games 30-22, 30-18 and 30-25.

This Week's Matches: Tuesday, Sept. 25 vs. #3 North Alabama, 7 p.m. at Spragins Hall; Friday, Sept 28, 7 p.m. at Missouri Western; Saturday, Sept. 29, 5 p.m. at #7 Truman State.

AVCA Poll (9/18/01)

Rank	School (First-Place-Votes)	Pts	Record	LW
1	Hawai'i Pacific (28)		842	8-0	1
2	Cal St.-San Bernardino (5)	815	12-0	2
3	North Alabama (2)		761	9-1	3
4	West Texas A&M		735	10-2	4
5	Western State, Colo.		708	11-1	5
6	University of Tampa		660	7-1	7
7	Truman			649	13-1	6
8	North Dakota State 		629	13-2	8
9	Barry			566	7-1	9
10	South Dakota State 		557	9-2	10
11	Metro State		508	10-3	11
12	Nebraska-Kearney 		460	11-2	13
13	Augustana, S.D.		450	7-4	12
14	Regis			369	8-4	14
15	Rockhurst			313	13-1	18
16	Cal State-Bakersfield		277	5-2	19
17	Grand Valley State		260	12-2	25
18	Central Missouri State	233	10-3	20
19	Northwood, Mich.		225	10-2	17
20	Northern Michigan		219	10-2	16
21	Alabama-Huntsville		191	10-3	21
22	BYU-Hawai'i 		188	5-2	15
23	UC San Diego		169	7-2	22
24	Northern Kentucky		105	6-4	23
25	Cameron 			49	10-3	NR

Others receiving points and listed on two or more ballots:  
Michigan Tech (33), Seattle Pacific (16), 
North Dakota (15), Northern Colorado (14), 
North Florida (9), Western Washington (8), 
Cal State L.A. (5).