CARROLLTON, Ga. - Momentum was all on the side of UWG Volleyball in Game 4 of the season Saturday afternoon, as the Wolves moved to 4-0 on the season with a 3-0 victory over Francis Marion. 

The Wolves opened the Kara Hellmann era with a flourish at the Erskine Invitational, winning all four games over the weekend, including a pair of three-set victories. Following a late finish on Friday evening, UWG opened Saturday with a 3-1 win over the host Flying Fleet. In the Wolves' finale in the afternoon, West Georgia faced off with Francis Marion, winning all three sets to move to 4-0 on the year. 

"I'm really proud of our effort this weekend," Hellmann said. "I'm happy that this team has been able to see their hard work pay off early in the season."

Senior Emilee Harris came into the match with three consecutive matches with 10 or more kills to start the season. While she didn't continue that streak, picking up eight kills in the match, she set the tone early in the match with four kills in the Wolves' first eight points, leading UWG to an early 8-3 advantage. West Georgia led by six for the bulk of the rest of the set until taking a seven-point lead at 22-15. At that point, Francis Marion turned the tables, reeling off seven-straight points to tie the set at 22-22. Caitlin Frazee stopped the run with a kill, then Tierra White put the Wolves on set point with a block. An attack error from FMU closed out the set with a 25-22 victory for the Wolves. 

The second set saw the Wolves and Patriots engage in a back-and-forth battle for the first 14 points of the set before Francis Marion reeled off five consecutive points to take a 19-14 lead. The Wolves, a team that came from two games down against Georgia College in the season opener, were not fazed. With Harris leading the way, the Wolves pulled to within two points at 23-21, then scored four straight to take the victory and a 2-0 lead in the match. A kill from Bret Luther completed the comeback on set point. 

Francis Marion held a small lead for the first 16 points of the third set, leading 16-14 midway through the set. With kills from Frazee and Luther, the Wolves clipped off four consecutive points to flip the scoreboard from a two-point deficit to a two-point advantage. Momentum was back, as the Wolves scored six straight points to move to match point. Autumn Mayes, who converted to a setter for this weekend, finished off the weekend with a kill, giving the Wolves a 25-19 victory. 

White and Harris each led the way offensively with eight kills followed by Luther with seven kills. Sydney Blackmon led the way again with 19 digs, averaging more than six digs per set for the match and Mayes added 30 assists on the day. 

Weekend Leaders
Tierra White led the way with 3.07 kills per set on the weekend, followed closely by Harris, who averaged 2.93. Autumn Mayes averaged 9.27 assists per set and Blackmon averaged 5.0 digs per set.  Kaylyn Buchanan was a blocking machine at the net, picking up a total of 18.0 blocks for an average of 1.20 blocks per set. 

The Wolves will be back in action in Winter Park, Fla. as UWG takes on four teams at the Rollins Tournament on Friday and Saturday.