BABSON PARK, Fla. (September 24, 2019) – After a couple of tough Sun Conference matches the week before, the Webber International University women's volleyball team took a break from conference play to host Florida College on Tuesday evening inside the Sabbagh Athletic Center, and the Warriors came away victorious with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-22) sweep of the Falcons.
The Warriors hit .270 for the match compared to .050 for the Falcons. Both teams improved their hitting percentage each set with Florida College starting out at -.062 percent in set number one and Webber finishing at .316 percent in the third set.
Kalameli Matautia recorded a career-high 19 kills to lead the way for Webber.
Laura Embry dished out a match-high 19 assists and was followed by Brianda Valez with 10. Valdez also finished with a match-high 10 digs to record what was her fourth double-double of the season and third double-double in her last four matches.
Other strong performances came from
Svenja Koenig with nine digs and eight kills,
Madelyn Glouner with four blocks and four kills, and
Samantha Davila with three service aces.
In all, the Warriors had four players hit over .300 percent for the match with Koenig at .412 percent, Matautia at .385 percent, Davila at .375 percent and Glouner at .308 percent.
In set number one, the Warriors never trailed since 3-2 and doubled up the Falcons at 8-4 and 12-6 before leading by as much as six three more times at 17-11, 20-14 and 22-16. From there, a 4-0 run for Florida College made it only a two-point set at 22-20 before three straight Falcons' attack errors gave the Warriors the win.
In the second set, Webber never trailed after falling behind 2-1 and then used a huge 7-0 run featuring three kills by Matautia to go ahead 10-3. The Warriors then expanded their lead to nine at 17-8 and rolled on to win from there.
Last but not least, in the final set, Webber again trailed 2-1, but four straight points by the home team made it a 5-2 advantage.
Then, tied at 10-10 in the third set, the Warriors went on a 6-0 run and did not let the Falcons get to within three until the end when a 4-0 spurt for Florida College made it 23-21 Webber. From there, a kill by Koenig made it 24-21, and then another kill by Koenig two points later gave the Warriors the sweep.
With the win, Webber improved to 5-6 overall in 2019 while Florida College fell to 8-7. It was also the ninth win in a row for the Warriors over the Falcons dating back to the 2010 season, and it increased the Warriors' all-time record over the Falcons to 10-1 going back to 2007.
The Webber women's volleyball team will return to Sun Conference action this Saturday on September 28 as the Warriors host St. Thomas University at 5 p.m. inside the Sabbagh Athletic Center.
