Florida Tech Goes 3-1 at Pioneer Tournament
BROOKVILLE, N.Y.-Florida Tech Panthers (4-2) had a very successful tournament appearance finishing third behind Bentley and South Carolina -Upstate who
both tied for 1st place with Bentley going 3-0 and Upstate finishing 4-0 for the tournament. Tech won three out of their four matches.
On day one, Tech opened up with Bentley (1-0) and lost 3-1 (30-26, 31-33, 30-24, 30-16) despite taking one game from the Falcons. Tech was led by junior MH
Jenny McCoy (Titusville, FL) hitting a .391. Senior MH Kelly Currin (Waynesville, OH) chipped in 15 kills and junior OH Megan Konopnicki (Plano, TX) added
15 digs.
In Tech’s second game, the Panthers shutdown the Concordia-NY Clippers (0-5) in three games 30-23, 30-20, 30-28 splitting for day one of the Pioneer
Tournament. McCoy once again led her team with a .308 hitting percentage both her and Konopnicki tallied seven kills. Senior OH Jenny Hart (Clermont, FL)
led all players with 10 kills and 14 digs. Sophomore S Amanda Boyce chipped in 19 assists for the match.
On the final day, Tech was able to send New York Tech (2-2) and Queens-NY (0-3) packing defeating both teams 3-2 and 3-0 respectively. NYIT was a tough
fought match with the Panthers finishing victorious 3-2 after five games 30-28, 30-25, 21-30, 17-30 and 15-12.
Despite the Bears of NYIT out hitting the Panthers .222 to a disappointing .120, Tech prevailed defensively shutting them down with 74 team digs to their
48. Four Panther tallied double digits in digs including Boyce (10), Konopnicki (15), Hart (10) and Currin (12). Boyce chipped in 37 assists while Currin
and McCoy both led the team at the net with four block assists. McCoy once again was on fire capturing 15 kills with a .278 hitting percentage.
In Florida Tech’s final match of the Tournament, the Panthers pummeled 2004 Elite Eight participants’ Queens College 30-13, 30-25, 30-24. The Knights’ had
a tough game hitting a mere .018 to the Panthers season best .239 for the contest. McCoy (.455) and Currin (.438) both notched their season high attack
percentages both above the .400 mark. Currin also added six blocks. Hart and Currin each were one shy of ten kills for the game.
For the weekend play, Hart was named to the 2005 Pioneer All-Tournament Team for her efforts. McCoy had an impressive tournament hitting .337 with the team
high 42 kills. Currin right behind with a .270 tournament attack percentage and 40 kills. Both middle hitters pitched in 11 blocks for the four matches.
Hart and Konopnicki had 43 digs a piece and Boyce added 96 assists.
Tech returns to action next weekend September 9th and 10th traveling to play in the Armstrong Atlantic / Chatham Orthopaedics Pirate Volleyball Classic.
