HOOVER, Ala. – The beginning of the 2022 South Region Crossover didn't go to plan for UWG Volleyball as the Wolves fell 3-1 to the Rollins College Tars on Friday. 

West Georgia (9-14, 2-8 GSC) struggled on the attack, hitting .058 in the match compared to Rollins' (5-14, 2-8 SSC) .181, leading to the four-set loss.

Sydney Blackmon led the Wolves defensively with a match-high 22 digs, propelling her to exactly 1,000 career digs which makes her the eighth player in UWG Volleyball history to reach that milestone.

Set one was a competitive set from start to finish, with the Tars getting out to an early 12-8 lead. West Georgia quickly closed that gap, as a Zoë LaBreche kill capped a 7-2 run for UWG to tie the game at 14. After tying the game at 14, neither team could go up by more than two points in the set, but the Tars would narrowly edge out the Wolves, winning the set 27-25.

West Georgia just couldn't find their rhythm in set two, as the Wolves hit a season-low -.226 in the set. To begin, Rollins marched out to a 15-5 lead after eight errors from UWG. Down 10, West Georgia began to find their stride, as a block from Caitlin Frazee and Claire Conway capped off a 7-0 run to make it a 15-12 game and forced the Tars to burn a timeout. Rollins responded in a big way out of the timeout, hitting the Wolves with a 7-0 run of their own to widened UWG's deficit back to 10. Frazee and Conway would combine for another block, but the deficit was too much to overcome, as the Tars won the set 25-14.

West Georgia won the race to 10 for the first time in the match in set three after an attack error from Rollins gave UWG a 10-8 advantage. The Wolves created some separation in the set, as Kelli Kaiser's 38^th service ace of the season capped off a 5-1 run for UWG to extend their lead to six. The Tars would respond with a 3-0 run before Emilee Harris catapulted a 6-2 run for the Wolves to make it 21-14, forcing a Rollins timeout. The Tars fought to get back into the set, until an Autumn Mayes kill ended the set 25-21.

Set four got off to a competitive start, with Rollins edging out UWG to the race to 10 by one point. The two teams traded blows until Rollins' Emma Begley put down back-to-back kills to give the Tars a 16-13 lead, forcing the Wolves to burn their first timeout of the set. Harris and Frazee delivered kills out of the timeout to keep West Georgia within two before a Rollins 8-2 run won the set for the Tars 25-17.

Harris led the way offensively for the Wolves with 11 kills, while Autumn Mayes dished out 37 assists.

UWG will be back in action on Saturday for matches against Spring Hill and St. Leo which are set for 10:00 a.m. and 4:45 p.m., respectively.