Carrollton, GA - For the just the third time in the past 15 seasons, the West Georgia Wolves are in the semifinals of the Gulf South Conference volleyball tournament, as the third-seeded Wolves took down sixth-seed West Alabama Friday evening at the UWF Field House in the opening round of this year's tourney.
The Wolves came into the match with a 6-8 all-time record in first round matches at the Gulf South Conference Tournament, including a 1-1 record against the West Alabama Tigers. The win was the 14th GSC tournament victory for West Georgia all-time, moving the record to 14-19.
West Georgia moves into the semifinals to take on seventh-seed North Alabama on Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. (EST). UNA picked up the upset victory over second-seed Valdosta State earlier in the day. In the other semifinal on Saturday, fourth-seed Christian Brothers will take on top-seed and host West Florida.
Three different players had at least four blocks for West Georgia in the match, led by Bemis with six, as the Wolves used a 10-block effort on the evening to push past the Tigers.
Senior #
Lesley Bemis# was on fire in the first set against the Tigers, leading the Wolves to a 25-20 victory and a 1-0 lead in the match. Bemis had five kills in the opening set as West Georgia surged late with a 12-5 run to close out the opening set of the 2013 GSC tournament for the two teams.
In the second set, the two teams battled back and forth for the first eight points of the frame, but the Wolves pulled out three straight points to take the first significant lead of the set at 11-8. Junior #
Amanda Miles# was key for West Georgia in the second set, collecting four kills in the first 17 points for UWG.
The Wolves continued to push through the second set until set point at 24-17, with junior #
Amanda Miller# on serve. The Tigers mishandled the serve and gave a free ball to the Wolves, which senior #
Emily Reul# used to her advantage to put down her fifth kill of the second set to give the Wolves a 25-17 victory and a 2-0 lead in the match.
The third set began with two straight points from West Alabama, but the Wolves came back strong with five straight points to take a 5-2 early lead in the frame. The run continued and extended to 8-1 as West Georgia began to pull away with the crowd behind them at the UWF Field House.
West Georgia pushed the lead up to nine points at 15-6 and kept it there for much of the remainder of the match. The UWG lead reached 10 three times and the Wolves had two straight match points. On the second match point, #
Jessica Gum# put the kill away for the 25-15 victory.
The Wolves had 10 team blocks on the evening, led by Bemis with six. Bemis led the way with 11 kills and #
Melissa Holt# had 23 digs to lead the back line for the Wolves. Miller led the way for the offense with 27 assists on the night.
West Georgia moves to 16-13 on the season and has now won four straight matches dating back to last Tuesday at West Alabama. The Wolves will look to advance to the championship match for just the second time in school history against the seventh seeded North Alabama Lions on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
