Lady Chargers move closer to a tournament spot
The Lady Chargers tightened their grip on fourth place in the Gulf South Conference East Division with a pair of wins over the weekend. Victories over West Georgia and Lincoln Memorial have the Lady Chargers (13-11, 6-3) holding a three game cushion for the final tournament slot. LMU is 3-6 in the conference, while West Alabama is sixth at 3-7. The Lady Chargers need only win two of their last five games to clinch a place in the postseason.On Friday night, it was senior outside hitter Mary Beth Key doing the damage off the UAH bench. Sunday, junior hitter Kristian Kleminsky, who is usually in the starting lineup, coming off the bench to smash 17 kills and pick up 11 digs to lead the Lady Chargers to a 3-1 win over Lincoln Memorial.
Molly Healey added 12 kills for UAH, while Emily Miller and Key finished with 10 kills apiece. Key, who got the start in the match after Friday's performance, also had 15 digs.
Things didn't begin well for the Lady Chargers. The opening game of the match was a disaster. Several errors opened the door for the fired-up Splitters who won the first game convincingly 30-18.
UAH led much of game two, but nearly let it slip away. LMU came back to tie the game at 28-all late, but the Lady Chargers survived the scare, earning a hard-fought 31-29 win to knot the match at 1-1.
The Lady Chargers began to wear LMU down in the third game, then rolled on to finish off the match 30-26 and 30-19.
With the Lady Charger offense looking less than efficient, UAH volleyball coach Laura Taube turned to senior hitter Mary Beth Key for a pick-me-up. Key responded with 10 kills and eight digs off the bench, and the Lady Chargers went on to take a 3-1 win over West Georgia Friday night at Spragins Hall.
Kristian Kleminsky led the Lady Chargers with 14 kills and Molly Healey added 10 kills and 10 digs. West Georgia hitter Stephanie Singleton led all scorers with 21 kills and 22 digs.
After splitting the first two games, Key went to work. Six of her kills came in the third game. Kleminsky added some extra fuel to the attack with five kills and UAH went to a 30-22 win.
In the final game, Key led the way once again with a team-high four kills and four digs. The Lady Chargers went on to finish off the Lady Braves (18-10, 1-8) 30-18.
Next up: The Lady Chargers step outside of the GSC on Tuesday night for a road match against Lee University. UAH has never lost to the Lady Flames. However, the 14-0 record versus Lee could be in jeopardy. Lee went shopping overseas and picked up some quality European talent. The Flames are currently 26-5 and dominating the TranSouth Conference (NAIA). Then, the Lady Chargers return to conference action on Friday and Saturday at Valdosta State and West Florida. UAH leads the series against Valdosta State 16-2, including a 3-0 sweep of the Blazers earlier this season. Meanwhile, things have heated up in the rivalry with West Florida. The Lady Chargers entered the season with a 6-0 series advantage. However, in the first meeting this season, UWF picked up their first win against UAH. The Argonauts edged the Lady Chargers 3-2 at Spragins Hall.