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Lady Chargers split GSC opening weekend
West Florida 3, UAH 2The Lady Chargers suffered their first loss ever to West Florida in a five-game barn burner. The visiting Argonauts emerged with a hard-fought 3-2 victory Saturday at Spragins Hall. It was the first loss to UWF for the Lady Chargers in seven meetings.
It was also the first conference loss for UAH, who fell to 6-7 overall and 1-1 in the Gulf South Conference. Meanwhile, the fourth-year Argonauts continued to be one of the hottest teams in the GSC, sporting a 16-1 overall mark and 1-1 in the conference. UWF's lone loss came on Friday night to North Alabama.
The loss overshadowed a fabulous performance by sophomore hitter Emily Miller, who finished the match with 21 kills and 10 digs. That's after knocking down only six kills against Valdosta State. Kristian Kleminsky had another quality outing, tallying 19 kills, while Melissa Feldmann finished with 15 kills and 14 digs. Samantha Polkowski had 46 assists.
Kristy Krause paced West Florida with 18 kills and 14 digs. Ayana Stewart added 16 kills and April Prater contributed 11 kills and 12 digs. Melina Pereira dished out 42 assists.
The match was an ebb-flow battle from start to finish. The Lady Chargers outslugged UWF in the first game 30-26. However, the Argos came back to take the next two games 30-28 and 30-20. UAH stayed alive by dominating the fourth game and coming away with a 30-18 win. But, there wasn't much left in the tank for the deciding game. UWF jumped out to a 10-3 lead and never looked back.
Junior outside hitter Kristian Kleminsky slammed down 15 kills to lead the Lady Chargers to a 3-0 sweep of Valdosta State in the Gulf South Conference opener for both teams. Emily Miller had 12 digs and Samantha Polkowski added 19 assists as UAH improved to 6-6 and 1-0 in the GSC. Valdosta State, who fell to 2-11 and 0-1, was held without a double-digit scorer. Jill Berkery led the Lady Blazers with seven kills.
The Lady Chargers were nearly caught sleeping in the opening game of the match, falling behind 11-3. In fact, VSU led 18-10 after a setting error by Polkowski. Then, the Lady Chargers came roaring back, outscoring the visitors 11-3. A service ace by Polkowski tied the score at 21-all. The sophomore setter added two more aces to give UAH a 23-21 lead. From there, it was all UAH as the Lady Chargers went on to take the first game 30-24.
After the opening game wake-up call, the Lady Chargers took control of the match. It was all UAH in the final two games as the Lady Chargers rolled 30-18 and 30-15.
Next up: vs. Montevallo, Tuesday, Sept. 23rd, 7 p.m. at Spragins Hall; at West Alabama, Friday, Sept. 26th, 7 p.m., Livingston, AL
