LAKELAND, Fla.—Southeastern went 2-0 during the first day of play at the NCCAA South Region Kickoff, hosted at The Furnace Friday night, defeating Bob Jones and Pensacola Christian by the scores of 3-0.
The Fire hit the ball well, posting high attacking percentages in both matches, and had great defense both at the net and in the back row.
Against Bob Jones, SEU won the first set 25-19 but was pushed in the second as the Bruins got off to an 11-5 advantage. The Fire scored five straight points to tie the set at 13, getting a pair of kills from
Grace Petty during the run. Bob Jones refused to cave, winning three set points against late in the match to force extra points tied at 25.
Kennedy Jones and
Sandy Cao came up with kills to give the Fire a 27-25 win in the second.
In the third, the Fire hit .455 as a team with 17 kills and just two errors for a 25-15 win. Jones finished with 14 kills and hit .444 in the match. She also added seven digs. Petty and Cao had nine kills each. Petty added 14 digs and
Holly Kaczmarek chipped in with 13.
Alexandra Postlethwaite had a match-best 34 assists.
The Fire cruised against Pensacola Christian, winning 25-15, 25-17, and 25-12.
On defense, SEU posted seven blocks and held the Eagles to a .033 attacking percentage and less than 10 kills in each set.
Cao paced the offense with 10 kills and added seven digs. Cunningham was in on three blocks and Kaczmarek had 13 digs. Petty was stellar at the service line with four aces and added five kills.
Postlethwaite had 30 assists on SEU's 37 kills.
The Fire return to action tomorrow to take on Trinity Baptist at 1 p.m. and Toccoa Falls at 3 p.m.
