LAKELAND, Fla.—After finishing the regular season in dominating fashion, the Fire will host Florida Memorial in the first round of the Sun Conference Tournament on Tuesday.
Southeastern comes into the game as the three seed in the tournament with a 12-4 record in the Sun Conference this year. The 12 conference victories is the most Sun Conference wins in program history. With a 22-7 overall record, the Fire have also tallied the most wins in a season since they went 24-18 in 2010.
The Fire have won nine of their last ten matches, eight of which ended in three sets, and haven't lost back-to-back competitions since mid-August. A major reason for this success is consistent play both offensively and defensively. Four Fire players have recorded at least 244 kills this year, while Kaity Reed and Kiana Sawtelle each have over 250 kills and 250 digs on the season.
Teams have had a hard time hitting against Southeastern's middle blockers, Kaitlin Boyd and Emily Boehlein, who both have stuffed at least 74 opponent attacks in 2017. Boehlein leads the Sun Conference in blocks per set, averaging just under one per game, while Boyd contributes offensively with the sixth best hitting percentage in the country (.385).
Florida Memorial needed a 3-0 win against Keiser University to clinch the sixth and final spot in the conference tournament, as they ended the season with a 6-10 TSC record.
The 10-15 Lions won three of their last five contests in order to earn their spot in the tournament by way of a tiebreaker.
Florida Memorial is led by the attacking combination of Jessica Medina and Yulianna Charris. The duo both recorded double-doubles in a four-set match against Ave Maria last week, as Medina registered 13 kills and an impressive 21 digs, while Charris totaled 12 kills and ten digs.
Earlier this season in Lakeland, Southeastern needed four sets to extinguish the Lions. Kaitlin Boyd and Reed both registered 15 kills in the victory for the Fire. On the defensive side, Boyd added six blocks, while Reed registered 14 digs. Medina tried to keep Florida Memorial in the match with 16 kills, but the Lions ultimately fell in four.
The Fire travelled to Miami Gardens just over a week ago for a rematch with FMU. Kelsey Morton's ten kills powered Southeastern past Florida Memorial in just three sets. Reed killed eight of her attack attempts on the day and contributed with nine digs as the Fire swept the Lions.
Southeastern leads the overall series with a 24-2 record, including the two times the Fire defeated the Lions this season. Florida Memorial's last victory came in 2008 with a 3-1 win in the Furnace. Since that match, the Fire have won 18 straight, sweeping 16 of the contests.
The winner of the first round battle will take on Webber for a chance to go to the championship game. The match is scheduled for 6 p.m. in the Furnace.
