Volleyball Inks Two More Wins
SAVANNAH, Ga. (Sept. 9) – Florida Tech remains perfect after defeating Armstrong Atlantic State 3-0 and Coker 3-0, improving the Panthers’ record to 11-0.
Leading the way for Tech against the Pirates were Mayne Pegorari with 10 kills, Aurora Jover with 24 assists and
Katie Dobek with 16 digs.
Brendyce Bunn, Nicole Yates and Kara Jerden collected 17 digs each for the AASU while Allison Ray had 10 kills and Hannah Segebart added 22 assists.
Game one was fairly evenly matched as Tech took the lead after 10 points. A few errors allowed the Pirates to tie the game at 17, but the Panthers took
the win 30-25. Game two presented multiple lead changes, and once again Tech held on to win 30-25. It was same story, different chapter in the third
game with both teams even for the first ten points. The Panthers widened the gap with Pegorari at the service line to make the score
17-12. Tech’s solid defense sealed the win with a final score of 30-20.
Tech standouts against Coker College were Sacha Gumbs with 12 kills, Marcela Vasconcelos with 27 assists and Amy
O’Brien with 4 aces and 18 digs.
Leaders for Coker College were Megan Gordon with 22 assists and Kelsey Carlson with 14 digs.
Tech was dominant in the first game against the Cobras with a new season-high attacking average of .522 winning 30-12. The Panthers got off to a rough
start in game two giving away three quick points and trailed through most of the game, though they recovered towards the end and won 30-27. Tech
scored three unanswered points in game three, but attack inconsistencies and unforced errors allowed the Cobras back in. The Panthers managed to recover
and won 30-18.
The Panthers have now shattered previous starting records set by teams in 1998 and 1995, both of which went 6-0 before their first loss. Now, the overall
mindset of the team has changed.
“I’m excited to be part of a team that’s starting off strong,” said Whitney Roberts. “We hope to be the turn-around team for the program
and continue breaking records for the next four years.”
With conference matches just around the corner Tech is staying optimistic, but focused.
“We’ve exceeded our expectations so far, but there are a lot of challenges ahead in conference,” said Jessie Metzger.
In addition, head coach Qi Wang is looking to the future hopefully.
“Overall we are playing well,” said Wang. “We still need to improve in many areas, but hopefully we learned from this tournament and are ready to face
conference teams.”
Florida Tech will travel to Ft. Lauderdale on Wednesday, Sept. 12, to begin Sunshine State Conference play against Nova Southeastern. They will return
to the Clemente Center next Saturday to take on Tampa, the defending NCAA Division II Champions.
