LAKELAND, Fla.— Southeastern will look to add to their program-high ten Sun Conference wins as they take on TSC opponents Coastal Georgia and Johnson & Wales to close out the regular season.
The Fire have been consistent all season long, going 20-7 on the year and winning seven of their last eight competitions. Southeastern has not lost back-to-back contests since mid-August.
The Fire are coming off of their 15
th sweep of 2017, after defeating Florida Memorial in the minimum number of sets necessary to pick up their 20
th victory of the season. Senior
Kelsey Morton accounted for ten of the Fire's 28 kills on the day with a .450 hitting percentage to lead an offense that had seven separate players register a kill.
Setter
Natalie Anderson and libero
Keniah Rivera Santiago have continued to play well, notching career-highs in assists and digs, respectively. In a five-set match against St. Thomas last week, Anderson tallied 50 helpers, while Rivera Santiago dug 34 of the Bobcats' attack attempts, both career marks.
On Wednesday, the Fire will host Coastal Georgia in a rematch from earlier this season. In the first matchup, Southeastern took three straight sets from the Mariners to sweep the Sun Conference newcomers in Brunswick.
Kaity Reed and
Kaitlin Boyd powered the Fire offense in the contest, as neither player recorded a single attacking error. Reed killed nine of her attacks, while Boyd connected on four of her five swings to boost her hitting percentage that ranks ninth nationally (.374). Kyra White was the top threat for the Mariners, killing ten attacks with a .250 hitting percentage.
Coastal Georgia has gained momentum as of late. Since the loss to the Fire, the Mariners have won four consecutive matches, including a four-set victory over 21-5 Webber International. White captained Coastal Georgia once again with a team-high 13 kills and no errors in the upset win over the Warriors. Setter Ashley Cot contributed to the offense with 37 assists, the most of any player in the match.
The match against Coastal Georgia on Wednesday will be Senior Night for four Fire players, as it is the last home game of the regular season.
Kaitlin Boyd, Uche Kojo,
Kelsey Morton and
Amy Schermerhorn will all be honored for their hard work and dedication as volleyball players at Southeastern.
Following their competition with the Mariners, the Fire will travel to North Miami for a clash with Johnson & Wales on Saturday.
The Wildcats have yet to win a conference match, but have managed to collect seven victories in their second year as a program. The team averages 1.97 aces per set, ranking them 29
th in the country. This is largely due to the serving of Anissa Giammona and Savannah Swenson, who both average north of .54 aces per game.
Swenson's abilities carry over to attacking, as well. The freshman leads the team with 265 kills on the year after a ten-kill performance versus Warner on Saturday. Swenson tallied 17 digs on the defensive side of the court, a career-high in three set matches.
In the first match against the Wildcats, the Fire easily handled Johnson & Wales, holding the Wildcats to an average of 12 points per set. Boyd came up big for Southeastern on both sides of the ball, killing 15 attempts, recording three aces, and blocking a match-high three Wildcat attacks. Swenson led Johnson & Wales with nine of their 14 kills.
With a success in either of their two remaining games, Southeastern will reach 21 wins for the first time since they went 24-18 in 2010. A win in both competitions would equal a 12-4 conference record, for the best winning percentage in Sun Conference play since 2013.
The match against Coastal Georgia is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m., while first serve versus Johnson & Wales will take place at 2 p.m.
