HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – The University of West Alabama volleyball team earned a split on Friday as the squad rolled over Paine College, 3-0, before falling to Florida Teach, 3-1, at the Alabama-Huntsville Tournament.
 
With the split, UWA improves its record to 5-2 on the year ahead of tomorrow's match against Albany State at 10 a.m. CT.
 
It was a tale of two different matches for the Tigers on Friday. UWA belted 17 service aces against Paine on its way to a dominating 25-12, 25-11, 25-10 win, where the Tigers were led by senior Tazra Pitts and sophomore Sadie Beam. Pitts' .727 hitting percentage fell just short of the school record set by teammate Chanel Davis in a match against Birmingham-Southern last season.
 
In the second contest of the day, the Tigers ran into an always tough Florida Tech squad that held UWA to a .085 hitting percentage and blocked 12 balls on the day.
 
After a 10-point Florida Tech win in the first set, West Alabama rebounded with an impressive 25-20 win in the second. Tech then put the final distance between them and the Tigers with a 25-18 triumph in the third and a 25-13 victory in the fourth.
 
West Alabama faces Albany State at 10 a.m. on Saturday before heading home to start conference play on Tuesday against Union. First serve for that contest is slated for 7 p.m. at UWA's Pruitt Hall.