Argonauts Soar Past Falcons as Wolter wins No. 100
Sept. 30, 2006
PENSACOLA, Fla. - Naiara Fernandes (Belo Horizonte, Brazil/Lee Univ.) led West Florida with 14 kills, and Danielle Spitzer (Birmingham, Ala./Western Carolina) added 12 kills to lead West Florida to a 3-0 (30-21, 30-19, 30-18) win over Montevallo Saturday evening at the UWF Field House. The win was also head coach Melissa Wolter's 100th career coaching victory. West Florida (11-8, 5-1 GSC) defeated Montevallo for the third straight match. Montevallo's (12-9, 2-4 GSC) winning streak ended at three matches.
"We played very consistently against a good team tonight and stuck to our game plan," said Wolter, who has won 64 of her 100 career victories at West Florida. "It was nice to see our players use the court in its entirety and reduce our number of errors."
West Florida opened up an early 9-4 advantage in the first game. But Montevallo eventually came back and tied the match at 12 before opening up a 17-14 lead. At that point, West Florida reeled off six consecutive points on a Fernandes kill, a Marcela Cunha (Curitiba, Brazil/Northern Kentucky Univ.) service ace and four Montevallo attack errors. With West Florida leading 22-20, the Argonauts put together seven consecutive points, highlighted by a pair of Melina Pereira (Sao Paulo, Brazil/UNIVAP) service aces. At game point, Spitzer took a set from Pereira to give the Argonauts the game one win.
With the exception of an early tie, West Florida led throughout game two. West Florida started the game on a 10-4 run, but unlike the first game, Montevallo was unable to recover. With West Florida leading 28-16, Montevallo strung together three consecutive points. A Spitzer kill gave the Argonauts game point and Fernandes's kill finished off Montevallo in game two.
Game three started close as both teams battled to a 9-9 tie. Three Argonaut kills, including consecutive kills by Carly Moyers (Eden Prairie, Minn./Louisiana Tech Univ.) helped put West Florida ahead, 15-10. West Florida scored the final three points to clinch the match. After a combined block by Calli Kovel (Joliet, Ill./Charleston Southern Univ.) and Sarah Harrison (Sinton, Texas/North Carolina-Pembroke) gave West Florida a 28-18 lead, Spitzer and Moyers closed out the match with kills off of sets from Cunha.
Fernandes totaled 14 kills and 16 digs to post her 13th double-double of the season, and the 25th double-double of her career. After 15 kills Friday night against West Alabama, Spitzer finished with 12 kills. Kovel posted a .500 hitting percentage on nine kills and no errors on 18 attacks. Lauren Tortorici led Montevallo with 10 kills. West Florida finished with a .298 hitting percentage and only 13 errors.
"It is exciting to achieve any milestone in your career," said Wolter on her 100th career win. "It is always exciting to win, but to reach a milestone makes it extra special."
West Florida will travel to Carrollton, Ga. Tuesday evening to face Gulf South Conference rival West Georgia. The match will begin at 7:00 p.m. EST. West Florida defeated West Georgia 3-0 (30-28, 30-19, 30-18) at the UWF Field House on Sept. 16.
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