Montgomery, Alabama-The Edward Waters Women's Volleyball squad traveled to Montgomery, Alabama to participate in the Warhawk Invitational hosted by Auburn University-Montgomery on Friday and Saturday. The Lady Tigers played four matches against Shorter University, fellow SIAC member Tuskegee University, the University of West Alabama, and host school, Auburn Montgomery. Edward Waters came away with a split of those four matches, falling to Shorter and AUM, but taking victories over Tuskegee and West Alabama.

Friday, September 9: Shorter 3, Edward Waters 1 (22-25, 25-20, 26-28, 16-25):
Edward Waters had several opportunities in their opening match of the Invitational to take victory over the Hawks of Shorter University, only to come up short, falling in four sets. After dropping the first set, the Lady Tigers responded in Set #2, taking it 25-20 to tie things up. In the third set, EWU had a lead of as many as five points, coming ever so close to tying up the match, only to see that lead dissipate with SU winning the set 28-26. Shorter closed out Edward Waters in quick fashion in Set #4 25-16 to march to victory and snapping EWU's four match winning streak. 

Shorter hit .220 in the match and held Edward Waters to a .183 hitting percentage. Saldy Amparo Smith led EWU with 19 kills in the match, followed by Naomy Vergez Varona with 13 and Saniya Spalding with 6. Mataiya Barber dished out a match high 39 assists, while Andrea Diaz Merced recorded 19 digs.

Friday, September 9: Edward Waters 3, Tuskegee 0 (25-17, 25-11, 25-9):
In Friday's nightcap, Edward Waters faced off against fellow SIAC member Tuskegee University, however the match was deemed a non-conference affair. EWU face some slight resistance from Tuskegee at the start of the opening set, but eventually found their groove to take the opener 25-17. The Lady Tigers flexed their dominance throughout the remainder of the match, taking Set #2 25-11, and Set #3 25-9 to secure the sweep and the first win of the Invitational for the Purple & Orange.

Edward Waters rode their heavy hitters in the match to a robust .464 hitting percentage and holding Tuskegee to a -.050 percentage. Naomy Vergez Varona led the Lady Tigers with 13 kills, while Saldy Amparo Smith had 10 and Fatima Ramirez finished with 9. Mataiya Barber led EWU with another match high 23 assists, while Andrea Diaz Merced had 11 total digs for EWU.

Saturday, September 10: Edward Waters 3, West Alabama 1 (20-25, 25-13, 25-21, 25-9):
Saturday's opener for Edward Waters saw them face West Alabama from the very tough Gulf South Conference. UWA fired the first salvo of the match, taking the first set 25-20, but Edward Waters rolled in the next three, winning 25-13, 25-21, and 25-9 en route to their second consecutive win. 

Naomy Vergez Varona led with a match high 12 kills, followed by Fatima Ramirez with 11, and Saniya Spalding with six. Ramirez also led EWU, recording five service aces in the match. Catherine Richards led Edward Waters with six blocks, while Katarina Ribar had five. Ribar also led EWU with a match high 31 assists, while Andrea Diaz Merced turned in 15 total digs, with Kaylin Guillory recording 13, and Ramirez finishing with 10.

Saturday, September 10: Auburn Montgomery 3, Edward Waters 1 (10-25, 20-25, 28-26, 20-25):
The final contest of the Warhawk Invitational saw Edward Waters do battle with the host school, Auburn Montgomery. AUM rolled in the first two sets, winning 25-10 and 25-20. Edward Waters responded in a marathon third set, taking it 28-26 and had their opportunities to win the fourth set, but were turned away, dropping it 25-20 and falling in the match 3-1 to earn a split of the four games in Montgomery.

Edward Waters did record 11 total blocks and seven service aces in the match, but only hit .137 in the match and had 22 critical errors in the match. 

EWU had two players with double digit kills with Fatima Ramirez with 16 and Naomy Vergez Varona with 11. Audrianna Jones turned in seven kills for Edward Waters in the match. Catherine Richards finished with seven blocks for the Lady Tigers, while Katarina Ribar finished with 37 assists and Andrea Diaz Merced had 29 digs.

Edward Waters will return home for their SIAC opener on Monday, September 12th at 6:00pm against the Lady Wildcats of Fort Valley State at the Adams-Jenkins Community Sports and Music Complex.

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