Carrollton, GA - The run for the ring came up just short on Sunday afternoon, as the West Georgia Wolves fell by a 3-2 margin to now six-time defending Gulf South Conference champion West Florida at the UWF Field House in Pensacola, Fla. in the 2013 GSC Tournament final.
The Wolves came into this year's tourney as the third seed, claiming that spot for the second-straight year. West Georgia took down sixth-seeded Christian Brothers in the first round in straight sets, the won a 3-2 battle over North Alabama on Saturday afternoon in the semifinals to reach the finals.
Playing on the home floor of the five-time defending GSC champs, the Wolves came out strong, building a 6-3 lead early in the opening set. West Georgia never trailed by more than two points in the opening set, but the Argos held tough, forcing the Wolves to win in extra points.
With the score tied at 26, #
Drea Matthews# picked up a kill followed by an attack error from West Florida's Jenny Bellairs, giving UWG a 28-26 victory and a 1-0 lead in the match.
The optimism was soaring on the UWG side of the court in the second set, as the Wolves again built a slight early lead and held it there, never trailing in that frame and taking a 25-21 victory to take a 2-0 lead in the match. Over the first two sets, the Wolves hit better than .400 in each set, including .457 in the second.
But good teams rarely stay down for long, and West Florida came roaring back in the third set, dominating from start to finish for a 25-8 victory. The fourth set was a similar result, with UWF forcing a championship set with a 25-12 win.
The Wolves held close for much of the fifth set, but a three-point run from West Florida with UWG trailing 9-7 was the final nail, as UWF closed out the tournament with a 15-10 victory over West Georgia.
Junior #
Amanda Miles# led the Wolves with 18 kills in the match, followed by #
Emily Reul# with 12 and #
Lesley Bemis# with 10. Reul led the defense with 16 digs, followed by setter #
Amanda Miller# with 15.
#
Melissa Holt# came into the weekend as the career and single-game record-holder for digs at UWG and came into the weekend looking to claim the single-season record as well. She did that, as her three-game total gave her 569 digs this season, besting former record-holder Kamille King's 2007 record of 556.
Miles, Bemis and Miller were all named to the 2013 GSC All-Tournament team. Bemis led the Wolves on the weekend with 46 kills, including 25 in the UWG semifinal victory on Saturday. Miles had 33 kills and Miller had 126 assists to lead the UWG offensive throughout the tournament.
West Georgia will await the announcement of the 2013 NCAA Regional brackets on Monday at 5:30 p.m. (EST). The Wolves have an outside shot of making this year's tournament after finishing the season winning five of their last six region matches.
