WINTER PARK, Fla. (Sept. 10, 2022) – The Rollins volleyball team overcame a marathon fourth-set defeat to bounce back with a win in the fifth set to defeat visiting Florida Tech on Saturday, 3-2 (23-25, 25-18, 25-23, 31-33, 15-10), improving to 3-7 on the year and 1-1 in conference play. With the loss, the Panthers fell to 5-5 overall, 0-2 in SSC matches.
Lana Gerard posted a career-high 25 kills and tied her career high with five service aces to go along with 11 digs, while
Andie Baldridge also set a career-high with 19 kills and tied a career-best with 14 digs.
Makayla Moran reached double-figures in kills for the first time in her career, racking up 11 on just 19 swings, hitting a career-best .526; she also established a new career mark with nine blocks (one solo).
Natalie Horsley eclipsed 50 assists for the first time as a Tar, leading all players with 52, and added a career-high 14 digs for her first career double-double, while also scoring a career-high four service aces.
Adriana Lopez led all players with a career-best 26 digs as well.
Katie Erdmann led the Panthers with 21 digs and a match-high 27 kills while hitting .436. Victoria Bowrosen added 14 kills and 16 digs, while Devyn Glassgold had five kills and a team-high seven blocks (three solo). Kenzi Delacher distributed a team-leading 49 assists and picked up 16 digs, while Kari Bogen (17 digs) and Courtney Capar (10 digs) also reached double-digit digs.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Set One
- Florida Tech took an early 3-1 lead, but the Tars quickly came back to take a 6-5 lead.
- The Tars built a 12-9 lead before the Panthers battled back, using a 6-0 run to pull ahead, 18-14.
- Florida Tech had a five-point advantage at 23-18 before Rollins scored five of the next six points to cut the deficit to a single point (24-23).
- The comeback came up just short as a service error gave the Panthers a 25-23 win.
Set Two
- Rollins scored the first four points of set two, running out to a commanding 10-2 lead early.
- The lead grew as large as 11 (18-7) before the Panthers starting to chip away, closing the gap to 23-18 before back-to-back points sealed the victory for the Tars at 25-18.
Set Three
- Set three was a much closer affair, with neither side leading by more than three points at any time.
- An ace from Marta Tsaneva gave Rollins a 17-16 lead, capping a 5-1 run.
- Florida Tech responded with a 6-2 spurt that put it in front, 22-19.
- The Tars then scored three straight to tie it, then scored another three straight after Florida Tech briefly retook the lead at 23-22, propelling Rollins to a 25-23 win and a 2-1 lead in the match.
Set Four
- Rollins used an early 7-1 run to establish a 10-7 advantage in the fourth set.
- After Florida Tech came back to take the lead, Rollins edged back in front on a Baldridge kill to make it 18-17.
- Again, the Panthers reclaimed the lead, but Rollins came back, using a 4-1 run capped by back-to-back Gerard kills to grab a 23-22 lead.
- After a service error, Gerard put down another kill to give the Tars match point at 24-23.
- A Panther block kept them alive, but Gerard and Moran teamed up for a block to give Rollins a second match point (25-24).
- The teams continued to trade sideouts, with Rollins earning three more match points, all of which were staved off by the Panthers.
- Florida Tech earned its first set point on a block that made it 29-28 Florida Tech.
- A kill by Begley staved off the first set point for the Pamthers, and kills from Gerard and Moran wiped out the next two set points for the visitors as well.
- It wasn't until a kill from Bowrosen followed by a block from Glassgold and Kayla Mastin that Florida Tech was able to string together the consecutive points needed to win the set, 33-31, sending the match to a fifth set.
Set Five
- Florida Tech won the opening point, but Rollins got the next three to take an early two-point lead (3-1).
- After trading sideouts for a few serves, the Tars went on a short 4-1 run to push their advantage to 9-5.
- The Panthers quickly responded, scoring three straight to make it a one-point contest (9-8).
- A block from Gerard and Moran pushed the lead to three (12-9), and the Tars closed out the match by scoring five of the final six points to pull away for a 15-10 win in the fifth, earning the 3-2 match victory.
UP NEXT:
The Tars will be back at home next Friday to host No. 22 Barry at 7 p.m. in another SSC contest.
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