Falcons Drop a Pair on Final Day of Comfort Inn-vitational

PENSACOLA, Fla. - The University of Montevallo women's volleyball team (2-2) lost a pair of matches at the University of West Florida Comfort Inn-vitational. The Falcons opened the day with a 3-0 loss to Lynn University (2-1) before falling 3-1 to No. 21 Lewis University (3-1). The Falcons were led by senior Katie Johnson (Alabaster, Ala./Thompson) who had a total of 18 kills on the day.

When asked about the strong teams at the UWF Comfort Inn-vitational head coach Katie O'Brien said, "I believe this was a strong tournament all around. We hung in there with Lewis and took a game off them, almost had two. We saw what the best team looks like No. 1 Concordia and several others (12, 15, 21) that we strive to become more like. We have some work to do and will keep practicing hard, this should motivate us."

The Falcons battled hard with Lynn for the first 15 points of each of the first two games but fell off at the end as Lynn pulled away taking game one 25-17 and game two 25-19. In the third game LU took over and pulled away with a 25-9 victory. The falcons were led by senior Katy Handrick (De Pere, Wisc./De Pere) who had nine kills while sophomore Anna Garrison (LaVergne, Tenn./LaVergne) chipped in 21 assists. Freshman Brittany Wilson (Floyds Knobs, Ind./Floyd Central) continued to shine with eight digs to lead the team.

In the second match the Falcons played tough throughout. UM would not allow Lewis to pull away with an easy victory as they went back-and-forth for the first 20 points of each of the first three games. In the first two games Lewis pulled away late winning 25-20 and 25-19 but the Falcons would get the better of the No. 21 ranked team in the third game taking a 25-23 victory for themselves.

Lewis used an impressive hitting display in the fourth and final game to take a 25-12 victory. They hit at a .433 clip while having just three errors.

The Falcons were led by Johnson who had 12 kills. Not far behind was senior Lauren Markle (Metamora, Ill./Peoria Notre Dame) who chipped in 11 kills and a team-high four blocks. Garrison once again dished out the assists coming away with 35 while serving up three aces. Wilson and sophomore Rachel Wotitzky (Punta Gorda, Fla./Charlotte) shined on the back line with 13 and nine digs, respectively.

The Falcons will return to the court Thursday, Sept. 3 at 7 p.m. as they travel to Stillman College.