Junior outside hitter Nikki Hartman's 26 kills and 25 digs were the match-highs for the Tars in an exciting five-set thrilling victory over Florida Tech (17-7, 2-5 SSC), 3-2 (24-26, 25-17, 25-22, 22-25, 15-6), in Friday evening's volleyball conference match at the Clemente Center.

Hartman set a career-high with the 26 kills and marks the most from a Rollins (16-8, 2-5 SSC) attacker since Piper Young's 28 kill performance against Carson-Newman, Oct. 13, 2006. The Deltona, Fla., native finished with an attacking percentage of .365 and assisted on two blocks.

With the win, Rollins ends its five conference match losing streak and earned its second road conference victory of the season.

As a team, the Tars hit .271 the highest mark against a conference team during the 2008 season and also recorded 74 kills, a season-high.

Defensively, Rollins limited Florida Tech to an .185 hitting percentage, which is mainly due to the stellar defense from the Tars. Freshman Phoebe Corder kept her conference leading digs mark in tact when she racked up 25 digs, tying Hartman for the match-high. Senior Tori Ratcliffe rounded out the Tars that collected double-digits with 13 digs.

Applying the other defensive pressure was freshman middle Lora Lieb and right side hitter Caitlin Vyborny. The duo denied the offensive pursuit by the Panthers as they were credited with six blocks apiece.

Senior Lacey Malarky increased her all-time assists mark with 39, while sophomore Erin Wareham collected 15.

¬The teams played even volleyball throughout the match, which was depicted in the first set as neither team was able to shake the other. Tied at 15, the teams would remain within one point of each other until a Panther's Pegorari kill secured the first-set victory.

Rollins rebounded in the second frame when it scored 10 unanswered points to take a 16-10 advantage. Included in the Tars' run were four service aces from Lieb along with a pair of kills from Hartman and Branche. Rollins continued its early success and captured the eight-point victory.

After the intermission, Florida Tech took a 6-1 lead, but Rollins fought and slowly chipped away at the Panther lead. The Tars tied the match at 16 and again the back-and-forth tug of war match was back in effect, but it was a Branche kill and a Sacha Gumbs attacking error that resulted in the victory.

The Panthers would not go way and took its biggest lead of the set at 16-11. Florida Tech sustained its narrow margin until a pair of Rollins points cut the Panther's lead to one at 22-21. Florida Tech outlasted the Tars to extend the match to a fifth set.

In the final stanza, defense would be key for the Tars as it limited the Panther's to a -.176 attacking percentage. Rollins cruised in the final set to claim the 15-6 win.

Florida Tech finished with four attackers in double-digits culminated by Sacha Gumbs 19 kills. The Panther's also had five players finish with double-digit dig efforts.

Setters Marcela Vasconcelos and Aysha Nickels paced Florida Tech with 30 and 22 assists, respectively.

The Tars will look to claim its third conference victory when it travels to Nova Southeastern, Saturday, Oct. 11 at 4 p.m.