LAKELAND, Fla.—After going down 2-0 to an explosive Coastal Georgia team, the Fire rallied to win three straight sets and come out victorious 3-2 (19-25, 21-25, 25-22, 25-21, 15-12).
On a night that saw the Fire seniors honored in between the second and third sets, it seemed as if there would be little to celebrate. Southeastern trailed 2-0 and all hope seemed lost.
In the first two sets, Coastal Georgia's offense had come out swinging.
The first frame featured a run by the Mariners fueled by five of Kyra White's 18 kills, giving Coastal Georgia a 25-19 win. In the second game, the Mariners utilized impressive serving to take the set 25-21. Coastal Georgia ended the day with 12 service aces, led by Alexis Downey, who had six aces on the night.
At this point, the seniors were recognized and an emotional comeback ensued as the Fire played inspired volleyball for the remainder of the game.
Southeastern won six of the first seven points of the third set and didn't look back. The Fire capitalized on Coastal Georgia's nine errors in the set, while limiting their mistakes to only two errors. Kaity Reed and Kiana Sawtelle each registered four of their kills in the frame as Southeastern won the third set 25-22, cutting the Mariners' advantage to 2-1. Sawtelle finished the contest with 13 kills.
After trailing 6-2 in the fourth set, seven more kills from Reed and five kills from senior Kelsey Morton sparked yet another brilliant run. The Fire, who trailed 15-9 midway through the period, used a remarkable offensive stretch to go up 23-17. SEU killed an extraordinary 18 kills in the set, while only making four mistakes, leading to a .424 hitting percentage. Reed and Morton ended the set with back-to-back kills as Southeastern took the fourth set 25-21, forcing a fifth and deciding game. Reed collected a match-high 18 kills in the contest.
In an intense final set, the teams went back and forth, with Coastal Georgia eventually holding a slight 10-9 advantage over Southeastern. The Fire, who had played solid defense for the past two sets, buckled down even further, diving left and right to keep the ball from hitting on their side of the court. Four Southeastern players picked up double-digit dig efforts on the night, led by Keniah Rivera Santiago with 22.
Trailing by one, the Fire then tallied five straight points behind three massive blocks by freshman Emily Boehlein to take a 14-10 lead. SEU was able to put the match away with a 15-12 victory, giving the Fire the most wins in a season since 2010.
Seniors Kaitlin Boyd and Amy Schermerhorn were instrumental in contributing to the comeback with timely kills. Boyd killed five of her attack attempts, while Schermerhorn recorded four kills. Boyd added two blocks and a career-high 12 digs as the Fire fought defensively to climb back into the match.
Southeastern improved to 21-7 (11-4 TSC) with the notable win, securing the third seed in the Sun Conference Tournament.
On Saturday, the Fire will take on Johnson & Wales in their final competition before postseason play begins. First serve is scheduled for 2 p.m. in North Miami.
