LAKELAND, Fla. - After a straight set win over Florida Memorial this past weekend, The Fire are preparing for two tough conference matches on the road this coming week against Warner University on Wednesday and St. Thomas University on Saturday. Southeastern will attempt to carry over the momentum gained in the match Florida Memorial in order to prevail victorious in these two crucial conference matchups.
Game 12: Southeastern University (7-4, The Sun Conference 1-1) at. Warner University (5-3, The Sun Conference 1-1)
Coverage:
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Game 13: Southeastern University (7-4, The Sun Conference 1-1) at. St. Thomas University (13-2, The Sun Conference 2-1)
Coverage:
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Propelling the Fire: Southeastern is 3-1 on the year when playing on the road and will rely on their consistent attack, led by Kelsey Morton and Lydia Rooth, to jumpstart the offense. Rooth leads the Fire this year in the attacking department with 135 kills and a .298 hitting percentage.
Complimenting Rooth on the Fire attack is Morton, who so far in 2016, has logged 103 kills and a .290 hitting percentage. Morton is also aiding in the defensive front with 31 blocks.
The St. Petersburg College transfer, Kaitlin Boyd, is another asset that the Fire use both on the attack and on defense. Boyd has tallied up 86 kills and 35 blocks in her first season with Southeastern.
Setting up the Fire attackers is the senior from Fort Myers, Florida, Lindsey Fleming. In this season alone, Fleming has totaled 360 assists in 11 games and ranks 36th in NAIA Division I in assists per game.
Uche Kojo and Alyssa Prescott are both key components in the wall that is the Fire defense. Kojo, the middleback out of Tallahassee, Fla. leads the team in blocks, with 43 which ranks 23rd in the NAIA Division I in blocks per game. Prescott, the Fire libero, has tallied up 139 digs so far this season.
The Fire are made up of versatile players that will need to be on top of their game for these big conference matchups.
Taming the Royals: Warner University fell in straight sets against St. Thomas University in their last match and will aim to bounce back against Southeastern.
The Royals are led by two main attackers, Adrienne Czaplewski, and Angie Pagan-Perez. Czaplewski has tallied 111 kills and 23 aces in her senior season. The Puerto Rico native Pagan-Perez, is second on the team in kills with 93.
While the Royals have a solid attack, their defensive play is also high-class. Thalia Mendez ranks 2nd in all of Division I NAIA in digs per game with an average of 6.47. On the year Mendez has 194 digs in eight matches and is on pace for 543 digs in the season.
The Bobcats: After a straight set loss to Keiser University, St. Thomas shutout Warner three games to zero. The Bobcats were able to keep points alive in the Warner match thanks to Haley Bannister. In this contest she logged 21 digs to add to her 201 on the season.
St. Thomas features a triple-threat attack in the form of Whitney Battoe, Shanotta Bawek, and Marisa Markus. All three women combine for a whopping 420 kills which ranks 23rd in NAIA Division I in kills per game.
While Markus is able to put points away, she also has the ability to keep the play alive. Markus leads the team in the blocking department with 24. Aiding Markus at the net, is the 5'9 junior from Denver, Colorado, Kadeeja Griffin with 20 blocks on the season. Six members of the Bobcat's team have tallied 15 or more blocks on the year.
The Bobcats are composed of players that are not superstars in one department, however they are well-rounded individuals that can make an impact both on offense and defense.
Closing Thoughts:
The Fire will take on two solid teams that are yearly conference powerhouses. In the last meeting between Southeastern and Warner, the Fire prevailed to claim their first conference title in program history. However this time Warner will seek revenge.
Southeastern is taking on a St. Thomas team that is undefeated this season in Miami Gardens. The Fire will need to have all aspects of their game clicking together as they aim to claim a win over the Bobcats.
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