PENSACOLA, Fla. (December 2, 2021) – The Spring Hill College (SHC) volleyball team closed its 2021 season with a 3-0 (18-25, 25-27, 23-25) loss at the NCAA Division II Volleyball South Region Championship to the hosting University of West Florida (UWF) Argonauts on Thursday night at the UWF Field House.
The 5
th-ranked and region's top-seeded Argonauts (34-1) fought out to a 5-5 deadlock with the Badgers in the early going of the first set as SHC successfully avoided the power game of the UWF front line. The Badgers took a 9-7 lead only to see the Argos crush two kills to tie the set at 9-9 before edging out to an 13-10 advantage heading into a Badger timeout.
UWF then found their power game and battled out to 18-12 and 21-15 leads, closing the set with a 25-18 score.
The second set saw the Badgers fall behind 8-5 and then 13-8 at the first SHC timeout. Trailing by as much as 17-12, the Badgers rallied to pull within 17-15, 18-16 and 19-17. Suddenly, it was a match again as two consecutive aces by freshman right side hitter
Airyonna Weaver made it 20-20, leading to a UWF timeout. SHC lost serve at 21-21, but earned it back at 22-21 only to see the Argos find the backline to tie things at 22-22. It was still anyone's set at 23-23 when a kill by senior outside hitter
Allison Weimer put the Badgers ahead 24-23.
UWF once again painted the backline to make it 24-24 and took a 25-24 edge off a front line kill in the center of the court. Weaver blasted a kill off a blocker into the crowd to tie the score 25-25, but two UWF kills handed the home team a 27-25 victory.
The Argos took a quick 6-2 lead in the third set, but once again SHC rallied to tie the set at 7-7 and 11-11. Refusing to quit, the Badgers took their first lead of the third set at 13-12 and grew the advantage to 15-12 and 19-16. It was UWF's turn to rally and they locked the score at 20-20 before taking a 22-20 lead resulting in a Badger timeout. UWF closed out the final set at 25-23.
After the match, SHC head coach
Peggy Martin praised her team's effort throughout the year. "I think our players really appreciated the chance to play this year (after opting out of 2020 Covid season) and I think t showed in their efforts. I am really disappointed that we won't be able to play tomorrow because I love being around this team."
SHC was led on offense by senior middle hitter
Kassandra Fairly with 11 kills while her sister redshirt freshman setter
Jessica Fairly handed out 32 assists. Libero
Taylor Fontenelle had 29 digs. The Badgers hit for a .227 (41-11-132) average with two aces, 59 digs and four blocks (0-8).
UWF's Alex Oliver had 13 kills and setter Taylor Vaneekeren distributed 35 assists as the Argos built a .311 (53-12-132) attack percentage with three aces, 72 digs and six blocks (2-8).
The Argos advance to play Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in the South Region Semifinal match.
The Badgers finished the season with a 30-6 overall record including their fifth consecutive undefeated season in Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) play at 17-0.
