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Banged up Lady Chargers end two game losing streak
The Lady Charger volleyball team got off the deck following back-to-back conference losses to knock off West Alabama on the road. The hard-earned five game victory evened the Lady Chargers GSC record at 2-2, while the overall mark improved to 7-8.The Lady Chargers were physically and emotionally battered after back-to-back home losses to West Florida and Montevallo. In fact, two players, setter Samantha Polkowski and defensive specialist Ashley Otwell, were out of the lineup because of injuries when the Lady Chargers traveled to Livingston on Friday night. Also, though she played, Molly Healey has been less than 100%. But, the Lady Chargers found the will to get the job done against West Alabama. And after a two hour plus war, UAH emerged victorious, snapping a two-game losing streak by edging the Lady Tigers 3-2.
Sophomore hitter Bethany Holder paced the UAH attack with a career high 19 kills, nine digs and four blocks. Emily Miller and Kristian Kleminsky added 15 kills each, while Melissa Feldmann tallied 12 for the Lady Chargers. Freshman setter Natalie Katsikas did an outstanding job starting in the place of Polkowski, finishing up with 63 assists. That was also a career in assists for Katsikas.
The team statistics were nearly identical. West Alabama finished with 79 kills to 77 for UAH. However, the Lady Chargers had 193 attempts to West Alabama's 184. The Lady Tigers had one more assist (65) than UAH (64), while both teams ended up with 10 team blocks each.
Neither team was willing to give ground during the match. All five games were tightly contested. West Alabama won the first game of the match 30-27. It was the seventh straight game that the Lady Tigers had won over UAH dating back to a pair of 3-0 sweeps last season. However, there would be no sweep this time around as the Lady Chargers battled back to wrestle away the next two games 30-28 and 31-29. UWA delayed the Lady Chargers celebration by taking game four 30-23. But, the deciding game would go to UAH 15-12.
The University of Montevallo rolled into Spragins Hall on Tuesday resembling a category five hurricane. A little over an hour later, the UAH Lady Chargers were completely swamped. The Lady Falcons dominated from start to finish in a 30-16, 30-19, 30-20 sweep.
Three players scored in double figures for Montevallo, paced by Alice Persinova, who smacked down 16 kills and had 13 digs. Senior Gabi Raposo added 14 kills and 12 digs, while Sevda Barutova tallied 12 kills. Myra Carter finished the match with 44 assists. Sophomore Emily Miller led UAH with 12 kills and 13 digs. Samantha Polkowski finished with 24 assists.
The Montevallo offense was about as efficient as they could get. As a team, the Lady Falcons had 49 kills with only eight errors. In the first two games, UM hit over 42%. They would finish the match with a .390 hitting percentage. Meanwhile, the home team struggled mightily, managing 31 kills, while committing 15 errors.
Next up: The Lady Chargers have two more GSC road matches this week. The first stop will be at West Georgia on Saturday (2 p.m.). UAH has won 22 of the 27 matches against the Lady Braves, including a pair of sweeps last season. The Lady Chargers haven't lost to West Georgia since the 1994 GSC tournament. From Carrollton, UAH travels north to Harrogate, Tenn for a match against Lincoln Memorial on Sunday afternoon (2 p.m.). The Lady Chargers have also dominated the series against LMU, taking 26 of 28. However, one of the two wins came last season when the Lady Railsplitters handed UAH a 3-1 setback in Harrogate.
