Florida Tech Reclaims Winning Ways In Sweep of Embry-Riddle 3-0

By  //  October 28, 2015

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Florida Tech avenged its earlier season loss to Embry-Riddle with a 3-0 sweep of the Eagles Tuesday night. (Image by Amanda Stratford Photography)

BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – It seems that the only thing Florida Tech needed to turn around its skid was a return home to the comforts of the Clemente Center. On Tuesday night the Panthers (11-10) flexed their muscles against Embry-Riddle (12-10), winning in straight sets (25-18, 25-16, 25-23).

The victory evened up the season series with the Eagles at 1-1 and ended FIT’s seven-match losing streak in non-neutral site contests.

“Going into this match, we met and decided to tweak our season plans,” said head coach Amy O’Brien.

“We have one month left in our season and we wanted to finish out strong. The girls are all on board with the adjustments we made. They have really bought in to our game plan and did a great job executing.”

Leading the Panthers in this one was Jenna Schaffer with a team-high 11 kills, five digs and one block. Freshmen played a pivotal role in paving the way in this victory. Olivia Hersey finished with 10 kills and five blocks, while Kiersten Rosa registered season-best performances. Rosa notched season-highs in digs (10), kills (6) and blocks (5) to go along with her 15 assists in the match.

Amy O'Brien
Amy O’Brien

“Kiersten Rosa stepped up big time for us coming off the bench tonight,” stated O’Brien.

“She hit over .400 on six kills with five block assists. She really played a vital role in our win tonight over Embry-Riddle.”

Alea Hamm also had a great night for the Panthers. The senior recorded nine kills on a .562 attack percentage with no hitting errors and three blocks in the match. Ashtin Truesdale tallied yet another double-double, her ninth of the season, on 20 assists and 10 digs. Back in the starting libero position for FIT was Becca Bower who added a match-high 22 digs to go with her three assists.

For the Eagles, Evelina Abdurakhmanova recorded a match-high 16 kills, while Ella Duggan was next up with eight kills and five blocks. Tamires Ferreira dished out a match-high 31 assists in addition to 10 digs and Caitlyn Ballard collected 21 digs and three assists.

FIT outhit their opponent .311-to-.176 and forced ERAU into 18 attack errors. The Panthers also tacked on nine blocks compared to the Eagles seven for the match.

The Panthers return to South Florida, this time to face Sunshine State Conference foes Lynn and Nova Southeastern.

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FIT won the earlier match against LU this season 3-0 on Sept. 26, but dropped a nail-biting five-setter versus NSU on Sept. 25. Florida Tech’s contest with the Fighting Knights is set for Friday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. ET in Boca Raton, Florida.

Following the match with Lynn, FIT meets the Sharks on Saturday at 4 p.m. in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Live coverage for both matches will be available at FloridaTechSports.com.