Due West, SC – UWG Volleyball finished the 2022 Erskine Tournament with a 1-2 record after falling to the Erskine Flying Fleet 3-1 on Saturday afternoon.
The Wolves finished the match with more kills than the Flying Fleet, but Erskine's advantage in the aces, blocks, and errors categories, propelled them over UWG.
Erskine blitzed West Georgia out of the gate, starting the match on a 6-0 run before Emilee Harris and Caitlin Frazee stopped the early bleeding with back-to-back kills. The Flying Fleet kept the pressure on the Wolves, as a kill from Erskine's Ali Angell put West Georgia in a 13-7 hole, forcing Kara Hellmann to take her first timeout of the match. Kills from Harris and Zoë LaBreche kept UWG in the set, but the early deficit proved to be too much to overcome, as Erskine took the first set 25-19.
The Flying Fleet won a tight race to 10 in the second set until kills from Frazee and LaBreche quickly evened the score for the Wolves. An 8-3 run from Erskine put UWG in a 19-13 hole and forced Coach Hellmann to burn her last timeout of the set. Out of the timeout, West Georgia responded with a 3-0 run before a marathon of a rally swung the momentum back in the direction of the Flying Fleet. Erskine rode that momentum out for the rest of the set, taking it 25-19.
It was all about the freshman to begin the third set for UWG, as Sarah Pipping and Isabella Steffel led the Wolves to an early 11-8 lead. An attack error and back-to-back kills from Harris and Frazee was the start of a massive 8-1 run for West Georgia, forcing Erskine to use both of their timeouts. The Flying Fleet fought out of the timeout, before Steffel's fourth kill of the set won it 25-17 for the Wolves.
It was a tough start to the fourth set for UWG, as Erskine marched out to a 9-0 lead. Two kills from Harris stopped the bleeding, but the momentum remained on the side of the Flying Fleet as they took the set 25-19, winning the match 3-1.
Harris led the way with 12 kills on a .440 hitting percentage, while Autumn Mayes and Sydney Blackmon both collected 20 digs.
West Georgia will be back in action on Friday in Athens, WV for the Concord Tournament with a 10:00 a.m. matchup against Bluefield State first on the docket.
