MONTGOMERY, Ala. – With the help of sophomore libero Berkleigh Davidson, the Auburn University at Montgomery volleyball team earned a 3-2 win over Gulf South Conference rival Montevallo at home on Tuesday night.

The Warhawks, with the win, improve to 12-8 on the year and rise above the .500 mark in conference play with a 4-3 record. The Falcons, meanwhile, fall to 8-11 on the year with a 2-5 record in Gulf South action.

The Italian duo of Ylenia De Mango and Giada Pais-Marden combined for 30 kills in the contest against the Falcons and led the Warhawks in kills with 15 each. Meanwhile, New Zealand native Carla Butler and Brazilian Maria Nicolau had 14 and 13 kills as well.

Isadora Nicolai and Amber Bretwisch combined to record 64 assists in the contest, with Bretwisch tallying 27 and Nicolai inching closer to 3,000 career assists with 37.

Set one was controlled early by the Warhawks, who jumped out to an early 5-1 lead over Montevallo. Later in the first, the Falcons would tie the game at 10 and eventually take the lead at 11-10 to record their first advantage of the game. With a 16-15 lead, Montevallo permanently distanced themselves from the Warhawks in the first set by going on a 5-0 run and took the first set 25-20.

The second set saw AUM jump out to a modest 12-8 lead over the Falcons, thanks to kills from Keren Santana. AUM lost their lead by allowing five straight points from Montevallo to tie the game at 12. With the set tied at 18-18, AUM rattled off four straight points to take a 22-18 lead, an advantage they would not concede as they tied the match at one after a 25-20 set-two win.

Once again, in the third set, the Warhawks jumped out to an early lead after stellar serving from Butler gained the Warhawks a 9-3 lead. Despite a 3-0 run in the early stages of the set by Montevallo, a kill from Nicolau distanced AUM from the Falcons, and AUM would cruise to a 25-22 victory in the third set.

The fourth set was played much tighter than the first three. Montevallo held a slim 11-10 lead over the Warhawks before taking five straight points to gain a 16-10 lead. AUM would storm back in the late stages of the fourth set, tying the game at 20 after a Nicolau kill. AUM had a 23-22 lead over the Falcons, but Montevallo forced a deciding fifth set after taking three straight points.

AUM jumped out to an all-important lead in the fifth set after an attack error from Montevallo gave AUM a 5-2 lead. An AUM service error cut the lead down to 5-4, but AUM was able to rebound by pushing their lead out to 9-6 after a Nyah Whittlesey kill. The Falcons, despite being down 14-10, made it interesting late as they were able to cut the lead to 13-14, but an attack error gave AUM a 15-13 set five win and a 3-2 win for the match.

AUM will hit the road with a critical Gulf South Conference showdown with Shorter University on Friday, October 15. The action from Rome, Ga., is set to being at 5 p.m.

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