UWA volleyball falls to West Florida in regular season finale

LIVINGSTON, Ala. – Corisha Smith, Lindsay Homme and Jenny Bellairs combined for 34 kills to lead No. 21 West Florida to a 3-1 Gulf South Conference volleyball victory over West Alabama Friday at Pruitt Hall Gymnasium.

The Argonauts, who will host the GSC Tournament next week, improved to 24-7 overall and 16-2 in conference play. UWA ends its regular season at 12-17 and 5-13.

West Florida won the first two sets, 25-23 and 25-16 respectively, before the Tigers rallied to take the third set, 28-26. The Argos won the match with a 25-16 decision in the fourth set.

“We played well, but to lose on senior night is tough,” UWA head coach Jordan Lay said. “We battled it out with the top team in the conference, so hopefully this gives us some confidence going into the league tournament.”

Jessica Voyles had 11 kills to pace the UWA attack, followed by Yanesha Johnson with 10. Smith had 13 kills to lead UWF, followed by Homme and Bellairs with 11 each. Sierra Hansen had 23 assists for UWF and Abby Timmer followed with 19 more.

Tiger seniors Cynthia Smith and Carly Wehling played the final matches in Pruitt Hall, with Wehling getting six kills, 19 assists and seven digs. Smith chipped in 15 digs.

The GSC Tournament will be held at West Florida on Nov. 22-24 with the Argonauts getting a first-round bye. The remainder of the seeds will be established in matches played over the weekend.