Florida Tech Hits the Road For South Florida This Weekend In Volleyball

By  //  October 23, 2015

Florida-Tech-580-2
It’s been tough sledding for Florida Tech in true road contests this season, as the volleyball team is winless in its first five attempts, with all losses coming against current or provisional Sunshine State Conference members. (FIT Image)

BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – It’s been tough sledding for Florida Tech in true road contests this season, as the volleyball team is winless in its first five attempts, with all losses coming against current or provisional Sunshine State Conference members.

The Panthers (10-8, 2-6 SSC) will try to right the ship this weekend, but it will be a daunting task as FIT travels to No. 17 Palm Beach Atlantic on Friday and SSC foe Barry on Saturday.

FIT was dealt its most recent road defeat on Tuesday at Rollins. Despite coming into the contest confident from their sweep of their Tars earlier this season, the Panthers were unable to hang with the SSC opponent, falling in four sets 3-1.

RC held the Panthers to their second lowest attack efficiency of the season, finishing with a percentage of .120 and just 49 kills on their 150 attempts with 31 errors. The Tars, on the other hand, converted 52 kills and just 21 errors on 142 total attempts.

Ashtin Truesdale
Ashtin Truesdale

Marilyn Dick’s performance was a bright spot for the Panthers as the senior finished with a match-high and season-best 16 kills on 36 attempts to go along with eight digs. Another player who had an admirable showing against the Tars was Ashtin Truesdale, who contributed a double-double on a season-high 45 assists and 12 digs.

PBA (16-3) enters this matchup fresh off a 3-0 sweep of Barry on Tuesday. The Sailfish have won their last six contests and have come out victorious in 13 of their last 14. The provisional SSC member is off to a 5-0 start at home this season, and have given up only one set win to its opponents.

Leading PBA this season is Faith Rohn with 240 kills. Rohn’s younger sister, Ally, is second on the team with 162 kills and leads the Sailfish with 378 assists. Rachel Holehouse has registered a team-high 338 digs, while four others have recorded over 130 digs. At the net, Sarah Ragland has been big for the Sailfish, leading the team with 98 total blocks this season.

BU (8-7, 3-3 SSC) has a challenging week prior to its contest with FIT. After falling to the No. 17-ranked Sailfish on Tuesday, the Bucs welcome No. 15 Florida Southern to the Health & Sports Center on Friday night. Heading into the weekend’s matches, BU has earned a 3-2 record at home.

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The Bucs are led by Eva Raat and Kaitlin Drake who have registered 179 and 177 kills, respectively. Jasmine Serna tops the team with 308 assists, while Jenny Trinidad is not too far behind with 287 assists this season. Brittany Jaco has snagged a team-high 338 digs and Katie Dooley has recorded 50 blocks though the first 15 contests.

The Panthers match against PBA begins at 7 p.m. ET on Friday in West Palm Beach, Florida. Saturday’s contest with BU is set for 4 p.m. in Miami Shores, Florida.

Live coverage for this weekend’s matches can be accessed at FloridaTechSports.com.