PENSACOLA, Fla. – The Auburn Unviersity at Montgomery volleyball team saw their season come to a close on Friday night in the quarterfinals of the GSC Championships at the hands of the West Georgia Wolves 3-2.   

NOTES
- The Warhawks finish the postseason tournament 1-1.
- Freshman outside hitter Giada Pais-Marden tallied a career-high 21 kills.
- The Wolves took the match 21-25, 25-21, 25-18, 16-25, 15-9.
 
STANDOUT PERFORMERS
- Pais-Marden led the Warhawks in kills with 21. 
- Sommer Rhea finished with a team-leading 17 digs.
- Isadora Nicolai tallied 36 assists against UWG.  
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
- AUM took an early lead in the beginning of the first set and jumped out to a 8-3 stronghold thanks to kills from Giada Pais-Marden and Nyah Whittlesey. A block from Nicolai added one more point to force a West Georgia timeout with the score sitting at 9-3. The Wolves would come back into the first set after back-to-back kills to run the set to 11-8 which resulted in an AUM timeout. The Warhawks earned three-straight points after the timeout after kills from Jaylyn Felder, Pais-Marden and Sommer Rhea to take a 14-9 lead over UWG. AUM continued their stellar play with kills from up and down the roster to put West Georgia on their heels with an 18-11 lead. UWG made it interesting in the late stages of the first, coming all the way back to cut the deficit to 19-18. AUM would clamp down and finish off the Wolves in the first set 25-21. 
- Neither side was able to gain a big lead to start the second set as both teams traded the game's first 18 points. Back-to-back service aces from Nicolai gave AUM a quick two-point lead at 11-9 but West Georgia would continue the back and forth trend to tie the game at 11 shortly after. West Georgia gained the first real lead of the second set with three-straight points to run the score to 20-17 in favor of the Wolves. AUM answered with two consecutive points of their own to force the Wolves' first timeout of the set. The Wolves pulled away late in the second to even the match at 1-1.  
- The third set started more favorably for the Warhawks, flying out to an early 9-4 lead on kills from multiple attackers. West Georgia pushed back by taking four of the next five points to bring the game back to a 10-8 Warhawk lead. The Wolves would come all the way back to take a 15-11 lead over AUM before the Warhawks could stop the bleeding on a UWG attack error. An 18-14 Wolves lead forced the Warhawks' second timeout of the set as the Orange & Black were struggling to break through the Wolves' frontline. UWG kept the foot on the gas and won the third set 25-18 to send the match to the fourth set with the Wolves winning 2-1 overall. 
- AUM was determined to not let their season end as the Orange & Black took the first four points of the fourth set to capture a 4-0 lead early. AUM extended their lead to 9-2 before West Georgia called timeout to try and stop the Warhawk run. The Warhawks would not be denied after the break as they took two more points on their way to a 12-3 lead. A service ace from West Georgia temporarily got a run started, but it was quickly shut down after a double block from Ariadne Borges and Rhea to make the set 15-7 in favor of AUM. The Warhawks would not be denied in the fourth set as after a timeout called with the Orange & Black up 15-9, the Warhawks took four of the next five points to take a 19-10 lead in the dying moments of the fourth. The Wolves made it interesting late, but the Warhawks pulled away with a 25-16 win to force a deciding fifth and final set. 
- The race to 15 began with West Georgia grabbing a 4-2 lead in the early stages. Pais-Marden set a new career high with her 21^st kill that tied the set at five for the Warhawks. However it was the Wolves who recorded the next two points to take a 7-5 lead and draw an AUM timeout. The team's would switch sides with UWG holding on to a 8-5 lead. A setting error from the Warhawks would give the Wolves a 10-5 lead in the late stages of the third as AUM would take a timeout trailing 11-5 in order to muster some offense. West Georgia continued their offensive dominance in the fifth set, capturing a ticket to the semifinals with a 15-9 win. 

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- The Warhawks netted 58 kills in the contest.
- AUM netted 75 digs to UWG's 70. 
- The Orange & Black tallied five service aces while holding the Wolves to four.   

QUOTING THE COACH

"It's been a great journey and a great experience. To finish a season knowing that in previous years teams have had little respect, but now that has changed. It makes me excited about what the future brings and it tells us how hard we have to work to get to where we want to be."

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