LAKELAND, Fla. - The Fire women's volleyball team is looking to rebound after a tough loss against #21 St. Thomas this past Saturday. Southeastern will play two home matches this week, one against Florida College (3-5) on Thursday, September 15th at 7:00 p.m. and another against Florida Memorial (1-5) on Saturday, September 17th at 2:00 p.m.
Game 10: Southeastern (5-4, The Sun Conference 0-1) vs. Florida College (3-5)
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Game 11: Southeastern (5-4, 0-1 TSC) vs. Florida Memorial (1-5, 1-0 TSC)
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Leading The Fire: Southeastern is led by three offensive threats that help contribute to their 25th overall, NAIA Division I, hitting percentage ranking. Lydia Rooth leads the attacking charge for the Fire with 113 kills on the season. In the last contest against St.Thomas the Raleigh, N.C. native, ended the match with 12 kills. Alongside of Rooth is junior outside hitter, Kelsey Morton, who so far in 2016, has posted a .276 hitting percentage with 82 kills. Rounding off the trio of attackers is Uche Kojo. Kojo, a junior this season, is not only an offensive threat, but is also a force to be reckoned with at the net. With Kojo's 76 kills comes her 35 blocks at the net which leads the team. Assisting with the majority of the kills is Lindsey Fleming who comes in at 38th on the NAIA National charts in assists per game. So far Fleming has tallied up 298 assists in nine games. Joining the block party in the 2016 season are both Kaitlin Boyd, and Morton. Boyd, a well rounded player herself, has denied 29 attempts at the net second while landing 70 kills.
The Falcons: In their last match of the Keiser University Tournament, the Falcons squared off against Marian University where they suffered a 3-0 loss. While the loss seemed grim, there were a few highlights to take note of. The captain of the Falcons, Rachel Tharp, led the offense with 12 kills in the match. Setting up Tharp, Abigail Hodges, and Jada Spano, was the Selkrik, Manitoba native, Baylee Gunter. Of the 33 total assists by the the Falcons, Gunter was accredited for 30. The junior and senior heavy team is hoping their experience will aid them against the Fire.
Breaking Down The Lions: Florida Memorial, led by Coach Arasay Guera, is coming off of a straight set win against Johnson & Wales University this past Monday. In that match, Illiana Mendoza was the Lions catalyst, landing 12 out of her 18 kill attempts for a hitting percentage of .611. Jessica Medina and Raquel Laing also support in the Lion's attack both combining for 97 kills. The freshman out of Carolina, Puerto Rico, Angelique Lopez, leads the team in assists with 111 on the year. Against Johnson & Wales, she finished the game with 29 assists, a season personal best. The Lions are aiming to bring the momentum they gained against Johnson & Wales into their contest against the Fire.
The Previous Meetings: Coming up on Thursday, the rubber between Florida College and Southeastern University will take place. Back in September of last year, the Fire edged out the Falcons by a score of three games to two. However when the teams met again in late October, The Falcons prevailed by the score of 3-1.
In the past two meetings between the Lions and the Fire, the Fire have come out on top by scores of 3-0 and 3-1. Rooth led the Fire in kills with 16, while Fleming was the main facilitator with 30 assists. The Fire are seeking to continue their dominance over Florida Memorial in their second Sun Conference matchup of the season.
Closing Thoughts: The matches ahead of the Fire are ones that can be a huge momentum builders for the games in the weeks to follow. On the other side of the coin, Florida College wants to continue where they left off last year, with another with against Southeastern. After a big win against Johnson & Wales, the Lions wish to improve to 2-0 in Sun Conference play on Saturday. If the Fire are able to capture two wins this week, it would be a huge confidence booster going into their match against Warner, the team Southeastern beat to claim its first Sun Conference Title in volleyball.
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