Volleyball Loses Tough Battle at Barry

MIAMI SHORES, Fla – (Sept. 28) Florida Tech volleyball fell to 12-6 overall and 0-6 in Sunshine State Conference (SSC) play after an intense match with the
Barry Buccaneers Friday night who captured their first conference win with a score of 3-1.

Stand outs for the Panthers included Marcela Vasconcelos with 46 assists, Amy O’Brien with 17 digs and Amanda
Boyce with three service aces. Three Panthers tallied double-digit kills. They were Mayne Pegorari with 13, Frankie
Brown with 14 and Sacha Gumbs with 15.

Playmakers for the Bucs were Camilla Pagnan with 37 kills, Maria Romanowski with 67 assists and Lauren Evans with 25 digs. Meisje-Sable Burton also added
five blocks.

The Panthers got off to a strong start in game one leading by as many as 12 points. They were in complete control never giving up a lead, executing
flawless defense and were relentless blockers of Barry’s attack. Tech won the game 30-17. Game two found the Panthers with a few defense problems, many at
the hand of Pagnan’s hitting. Barry took the lead to 7-4 and Tech managed to keep it a two-point game before taking a time out at 22-26. The Bucs took game
two 30-25 to tie the match. Game three was a nail-biter to the finish in extra points. Once again Barry took the lead first and Tech closed the gap to make
it a one-point game. Multiple ties and lead changes took the game to extra points where Barry ended up on top 34-32. The fourth game was close throughout
the duration. Towards the end Barry started to pull away. Tech took a time out at 20-26 and started fighting back. At Barry match point O’Brien lead a surge from the service line, but the Bucs put away the final ball to take the game 30-27 and the match.

Panther play has improved in the past weeks despite conference losses. The team is learning how to work better together and stay mentally focused.

“They have shown much mental improvement lately,” said head coach Qi Wang.

The Panthers will travel to Boca Raton Saturday to take on the Fighting Knights of Lynn College at 2 p.m. Tech will return to the Clemente Center Saturday,
October 6 at 4 p.m. to face off with Rollins College.