PENSACOLA, FLA - The University of Montevallo rebounded from an opening set loss to beat Alabama-Huntsville 3-1 in the semifinals of the Gulf South Conference volleyball tournament on Saturday. With the win, the Falcons (21-13) advanced to the championship game where they will face top seed and 7th-ranked West Florida. The game is scheduled for noon at the UWF Field House. This  will be the third meeting between the two teams this season. The Argonauts both regular season matches, but the last time the two teams met, the battle went five sets, at UWF.

The win was the seventh straight for UM and 12th out of the last 13 games. The loss came against West Florida back on Nov. 2. 

The Falcons were flying around on defense, making the Chargers (21-9) earn every point. Four UM players finished the match with double-digit digs, led by freshman libero Casey Hendrixson, who piled up 29.  Senior outside hitter Evelina Teran added 16 digs, while junior setter Sav Roys had 15 and sophomore Megan Schram 13. Roys also had 26 assists to earn a double-double, while freshman setter Colton Thompson contributed 24 assists. Teran also had a double-double with 12 kills to go with her digs. Freshman outside Elizabeth Wilzbach led in scoring with 16 kills.

"Tonight was a total team effort," said UM head coach Katie O'Brien. "Huntsville is a good team and it was a battle. We were scrappy and served well."

Coach O'Brien couldn't have said it any better. The Falcons had to claw their way back after a lackluster performance in the opening set. UM struggled on offense, committing 15 attack errors against 14 kills on 52 attempts. UAH didn't do much better, managing only six kills in the set, but it was enough to earn a 25-19 win to open the match. However, the Falcons were talons up the rest of the way, stifling the Chargers on offense.

The Falcons evened the match with a 25-23 win in the second set. UM showed significant improvement in the victory, hitting .316 with 16 kills in 38 attacks and only four errors. The Falcons totally took over the match from that point, winning the last two sets by identical scores of 25-20.

For the match, the Falcons outscored the Chargers 60 kills to 39. UM had 21 more swings (186 to 165). Both teams made life difficult at the net with UAH finishing with 20 blocks and UM 14.