Carrollton, Ga. – September 13, 2005 – West Georgia head coach Regan Adams has only coached in one GSC match, and her team came away with a 3-1 win over West Alabama Tuesday night at the HPE Building.
The Braves came out firing on all cylinders after a sub-par weekend at the UWF Argonaut Invitational. As a team, West Georgia hit at a 33 percent clip, including 43 percent from Kathi Schoeneck and Siha Collins
Schoeneck and the Braves came out blazing early, building an early 12-5 lead in the first game. That lead stayed intact for the majority of the game, as West Georgia won 30-22. Schoeneck had six kills in the first game and 16 on the night.
In game two, the Tigers came out fired up, building a quick 6-2 lead before UWG came back to tie things up at seven. West Alabama went on the offensive again, using the connection of Morgan Graffigna to Amanda Heaton to build an 11-7 lead.
But West Georgia came roaring back behind the strong of Carolin Schoeneck, who had four kills in the game. The Braves hit at a 55 percent clip and won the final point on an Amber Barnlund kill for a 30-24 win and a 2-0 lead in the match.
In game three, the two teams played very tight, as neither squad could build a lead bigger than two points. Back-and-forth the Braves and Tigers went, till the match was tied at 28. UWA pulled out the last two points to extend the match to a fourth game.
In the fourth and final game, West Alabama again sprinted out to an early lead, building a 14-11 advantage before the Braves made a comeback.
With West Georgia down a point at 16-15, Kathi Schoeneck came up with a huge dig on an attack from Allison Nail. Instead of attempting to set, UWG setter Stephanie Johnson smartly slapped the ball over the net and safely to the ground for the kill, tying the game at 16. Carolin Schoeneck blasted a kill on the next point to put the Braves ahead.
But the Tigers clawed back, taking the lead at 22-20 before the Braves made their final run. Johnson again set things in motion with a kill to tie the game at 22 and the offensive was on. The Braves outscored West Alabama 10-1 over the final 11 points to seal the first conference victory of the year.
Four Braves were in double-figures in kills on the night, led by K. Schoeneck with 16. Stephanie Singleton had 14 to push her career record to 1,417. C. Schoneck followed up with 12 and Barnlund has 10. Collins was big as well, collecting nine kills on the night.
The Braves travel for a tough match Thursday night at Montevallo, with the first serve scheduled for 7 p.m.