The Panthers Come On Strong Ultimately Falling 3-1 To Tars

WINTER PARK , Fla. The Florida Tech Panthers (7-19, 2-7) gave up an early lead by falling in four sets to the Rollins College Tars (19-8, 4-5) in a
Sunshine State Conference battle at the Alfond Sports Center in Winter Park this evening. The Panthers came on strong pulling out a hard fought game one
win 31-29. Tech held the lead early on and after a key block by senior Jenny Hart (Clermont, Fla.) and junior Jenny McCoy (Titusville, Fla.) the Tars were
unable to stop the Panthers overcome a 29-29 tie to take control of set one.

Rollins would then return in games two, three and four to successfully shut-down the Panthers. They came storming back in the second game leading by as
much as ten at 21-11. They would defeat Tech 30-26. The third game was close early with the two teams trading points. The score was tied at 13, when the
Tars went on a seven to one run to put the game out of reach. They would win the third game 30-23. In the fourth and final game, the Tars were trailing by
a large margin early in the set. The Panthers built up a 21-14 lead before the Tars could put anything together. However, after a Tars timeout, Rollins
regrouped and went on a 12-5 run to tie it at 26. The Tars closed out on Tech from there and took the game in a tight victory of 30-28.

Rollins’ junior hitter Julia Caner and sophomore hitter Amy Barlow both led the team in kills with 16. Sophomore middle blocker Christina Reinders finished
with 15 kills and hit for a .290 percentage. Sophomore Lorena Orlandini also finished with double digit kills with 13. Both Julia Caner and libero Kim
Cline finished with over 20 digs. Cline finished with 20 and Caner finished with a season high 21.

The Panthers were led by senior middle hitter Kelly Currin (Waynesville, Ohio), who finished with 16 kills and a .239 hitting percentage. Defensively, Tech
was led by senior Hart who finished with 20 digs. The Panthers played great defense out-digging the Tars 91 to 84, yet were still unable to come up with
the victory.

Tech will be back in action later this week, tentatively traveling to Palm Beach Atlantic for a 7:00 p.m. road trip. But due to Hurricane Wilma damage in
the southern part of the state, no word has been given about this trip on Friday. The Panthers will be hosting Florida Southern in an SSC match on Saturday
the 29th at 6:00 p.m. at the Clemente Center.