Florida Tech Will Host Sharks and Fighting Knights For Key SSC Weekend
By Florida Tech // September 24, 2015
BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Coming off an impressive Sunshine State Conference opening victory last Saturday, Florida Tech volleyball (6-2, 1-0 SSC) will have two more tough conference showdowns this weekend.
The Panthers face Nova Southeastern on Friday and Lynn on Saturday, as the team looks to improve to 6-0 at the Clemente Center this season.
This 2015 Florida Tech squad is already showing vast improvement from the previous campaign as they took down Rollins in straight sets (25-21, 25-13, 25-21) on Saturday, Sept. 19. Before Saturday’s win, the Tars had defeated the Panthers the last three times the teams faced dating back to Nov. 2 of the 2013 season.
Junior Jenna Schaffer led FIT with a match-high 17 kills as well as 13 digs and senior Marilyn Dick finished with 14 kills and eight digs. Senior Kim Juriga, who currently leads the Panthers with 73 kills this season, finished with eight kills and three total blocks while classmate Alea Hamm added five kills and five block assists.
Senior Ashtin Truesdale initiated the Panthers offense with a match-high 29 assists to go along with 11 digs. Hustling all over the court was sophomore Becca Bower, who notched a team-high 16 digs against Rollins.
The Sharks (9-1, 2-0 SSC) registered three wins last weekend, including two against conference foes. Nova Southeastern defeated Barry, Lynn and Flagler over a two-day span to move itself into a strong position entering the league schedule.
Senior Dana Holger leads the Sharks with 111 kills this season, while fellow senior Sydney Cook and freshman Denvyr Tyler-Palmer have notched 95 and 94 kills, respectively. Katie Pyles has tallied 343 assists in her junior season and sophomore Kaelyn Brock tops the stat sheet with132 digs.
Prior to facing the Panthers on Saturday, Lynn (5-3, 0-1 SSC) travels to Lakeland, Florida for a contest with No. 9 ranked Florida Southern on Friday.
The Fighting Knights dropped their recent matchup versus Nova Southeastern 0-3 on Sept. 19. Junior Lydia West paces the Lynn offense with a team-high 77 kills followed by classmate Cristina Llorens’ 69 kills. Marissa Tandron has dished out 256 assists, while Katie Knights adds 123 digs in their junior seasons.
Florida Tech last defeated Nova Southeastern 3-1 on Nov. 8, 2013 and Lynn 3-2 on Oct. 8, 2014. This will be the Panthers’ first of two matchups against each of these SSC opponents.
Fans can access live coverage for both of the Panthers’ matchups this weekend via FloridaTechSports.com/live.
