LAKELAND, Fla.—After coming out victorious in their last home match nearly two weeks ago, the Fire will look to remain perfect in the Furnace as they take on tough conference opponents in the upcoming week.
Southeastern began its season at 3-3 before catching fire as of late. After the average start, the Fire then went on a five game winning streak, in which they only dropped two sets, to boost their record to 8-3.
The hot stretch was largely due to the offensive contribution of
Kaity Reed and
Kiana Sawtelle, who are currently tied with a team-high 123 kills on the year. The combination registered at least 20 kills in four out of the five wins, the lone exception being a three set match against Johnson University in which four Fire players had six or more kills.
Keniah Rivera Santiago captains the back line as the libero for Southeastern. The junior from Naguabo, Puerto Rico, has recorded double-digit dig totals in each of the past nine matches, while leading the Fire in the dig category for the last 11 competitions.
With Hurricane Irma shuffling schedules, the Fire kicked off conference play on Saturday with a game in Babson Park, where Southeastern dropped a hard-fought five set battle with the defending Sun Conference Tournament champions Webber International.
Southeastern will play their first home conference game of the year against cross-county rival, Warner University, Wednesday night. The Royals, who have made the conference tournament each of the past three years, have started their 2017 campaign with a shaky 2-4 record.
Alexandra Gonzalez, who ranks 33
rd in the country in kills per set with 3.56, is the leading offensive threat for Warner. The freshman outside hitter has tallied double-digit kills in four of the five matches she has played in this season and is coming off of a season-high 17 kills against Evangel. Junior Marissa Intoppa has also contributed offensively for the Royals this season. The outside hitter from Lake Worth, Florida tallied season-highs of seven kills and a .313 hitting percentage in Warner's 3-1 win over Evangel.
Directing the back line for the Royals is senior Thalia Mendez. Mendez, who received first-team All-Conference honors for her defensive efforts last season, has registered a team-high 78 digs thus far, ranks 49
th in the nation with 4.88 digs per game, and has reached the 25-dig plateau twice this season.
In their second competition of the week, the Fire will take on St. Thomas. The Bobcats sit at a mere 1-5 record on the year; however, three St. Thomas players lead the Sun Conference in major statistical categories.
Offensively, senior Whitney Battoe averages a conference-high 3.8 kills per set, while Veronica Gomez has set the pace in the conference by averaging just under one service ace per set. Battoe, who returns after earning first-team All-Conference recognition in 2016, has recorded at least ten kills and ten digs in three of the four contests she has played. She killed over 14 attack attempts in her first three competitions of 2017.
St. Thomas also leads the Sun Conference in assists. Kimberly Martino, the senior transfer from Butler University, averages a fraction shy of ten helpers per set (9.9) and has reached 35 assists in three of the Bobcats' games this season.
The match against Warner is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Wednesday, while the St. Thomas game is set for Saturday at 2 p.m.
