PENSACOLA, Fla. - The Sunshine State didn't shine down too brightly on the Northwest volleyball team in Thursday's matches in the Pensacola State Tournament.

Northwest fell 3-0 and 3-1 in a pair of contests against tournament host Pensacola State and Coastal Alabama-East, opening the season at 0-2.

Sophomore Micah Swift finished with a combined 13 kills, while Kaley Rikard and Cristen Cleveland totaled 11 kills across both matches. Jacia Hayes finished the day with three kills, followed by two from Swift and Kailey Gooch across both matches.

Northwest will close out action in the Pensacola State Tournament on Friday, as the Lady Rangers will face Enterprise State (11 A.M.) and Santa Fe College (1 P.M.). Both matches will tentatively broadcasted by Pensacola State at https://piratenetwork.live/watch-live/.


Pensacola State 3, Northwest 0
(Set scores: 14-25, 18-25, 16-25)

A 10-10 tie early in the opening set soon turned into a 19-11 lead for Pensacola State, as the Lady Rangers dropped the set and later, the match.

Northwest fell 25-14 in the first set and quickly fell behind in the second set, before rallying to gain some ground on the Lady Pirates. However, Pensacola State still took the second set victory, 25-18.

Although Northwest took an early 8-5 advantage in the third set, a timeout re-energized the home team, which battled back to a 9-9 draw. The Lady Rangers battled close throughout the majority of the set, but Pensacola State eventually pulled away down the stretch, securing the match with the 25-16 decision.

Jacia Hayes led Northwest with five kills, followed by four apiece from Cristen Cleveland and Micah Swift. In her freshman debut, Layla Dyer totaled eight assists and seven digs, while fellow freshman Sarah Bolin also finished with four assists and two digs.


Coastal Alabama-East 3, Northwest 1
(Set scores: 25-19, 19-25, 12-25, 18-25)

Northwest grabbed the momentum in the opening set of its second match, but the pendulum swung back in the direction of Coastal Alabama-East the rest of the way, as the Lady Coyotes grabbed a 3-1 victory against the Lady Rangers.

In the first set, Northwest captured an 8-4 lead and held off a rally from the Lady Coyotes, securing the 25-19 decision. 

Although the Lady Rangers seemingly started off the second set right where they left off, Coastal Alabama-East suddenly flipped the script. Leading 7-2, Northwest suddenly found its advantage trimmed down to a point, 8-7.

Coastal Alabama-East gained a 10-9 lead and withstood a late rally from the Lady Rangers, clinching the second set with a 25-19 score.

With the match now tied at 1-1, the Lady Coyotes seized the momentum and turned an early 9-5 advantage into an 18-8 margin. Coastal Alabama-East would eventually clinch the third set, 25-12, putting the Lady Rangers on the ropes.

Trailing 11-5 early in the fourth set, Northwest rallied back to trim the deficit to 11-9. However, the rally would not last long, as Coastal Alabama-East worked the lead back to 16-10, before cruising to the 25-18 clincher.

Rikard came away with 13 digs and nine kills, leading both categories. Swift also totaled nine kills, followed by seven from Cleveland. Dyer and Bolin combined for 30 assists, with Dyer also tallying eight digs. Read Full Article