UNA wins 2016 GSC Volleyball Tournament Championship
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PENSACOLA, Fla. – In thrilling fashion, the North Alabama Lions captured their second consecutive Gulf South Conference Tournament Championship, defeating the West Florida Argonauts 3-2.
The first set went to North Alabama. After the Lions took the initial lead and momentum, West Florida rallied to tie it 21-21. The Lions and Argos battled point-for-point until UNA senior Peyton Lang finished off the set with two straight kills.
West Florida tied the match up in the second set with a dominating effort. The Argos jumped out to an early 5-0 lead and never surrendered it, taking an eventual 25-11 set victory.
The third set started off much like the second. The Argonauts took the lead early but the Lions stayed within striking range. UNA attempted a comeback coming within two points of the lead late; however, UWF was already sitting on the set point. The Argos, after calling a timeout, picked up the final point to ice the third set 25-22 and take a 2-1 lead.
North Alabama, needing the fourth set to stay alive, took it 25-13. The Lions started off with the momentum and held it to the end, not allowing West Florida to rally. Lang was crucial for UNA, leading the team with six kills in the fourth set and helping the Lions tie up the match 2-2.
For the third time in four years, the conference championship would need five sets to determine a winner. West Florida was the first to eight points in the fifth set as the two teams switch sides, but the Lions battled back to tie the set 12-12. UNA then went on a 3-1 run, capped off with a match-winning kill by Lang, to earn its second straight conference title.
BY THE NUMBERS (BOX SCORE)
| Teams |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
Final |
| North Alabama |
25 |
11 |
22 |
25 |
15 |
3 |
| West Florida |
23 |
25 |
25 |
13 |
13 |
2 |
| Game Leaders |
UNA |
UWF |
| Kills |
Lang | 17 |
Smith | 19 |
| Digs |
Kapovich | 16 |
Martella | 15 |
| Assists |
Davila-McClary | 48 |
StCyr | 52 |
| Blocks |
Fomina, Bradley, Austin | 4 |
Torre | 7 |
| Points |
Lang | 19.5 |
Smith | 21 |
NOTABLE
North Alabama won its GSC-leading 18th conference championship, the fifth under Lion head coach Stephanie Radecki. The tournament Most Outstanding Player Peyton Lang led UNA with 17 kills and led all players with a .469 hitting percentage (min. 5 total attacks).
GSC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Jessica Reber, CBU
BreAnna Thompson, SU
Tori Martella, UWF
Corisha Smith, UWF
Natasha Fomina, UNA
Ashtyn Kapovich, UNA
Peyton Lang, UNA (Most Outstanding Player)