Three-Game Week for Volleyball Begins Today

LAKELAND, Fla.- It's a busy three-game week for the Southeastern University Fire volleyball team as they look to build upon their 6-11 (2-4 SUN) record with home contests against Warner University and Coastal Georgia on Wednesday and Friday and will round out their week with a road contest against Keiser on Saturday.
 
Southeastern will look to overcome their offensive struggles this week as they aim to build upon their .157 attack percentage and 11.6 kills per set. Defensively, the Fire average nearly 17 digs per set and 1.4 blocks per set. Grace Petty has seen the most success for the Fire thus far, leading in both kills with 166 and digs at 408. Holly Kaczmarek has also been a force for the Fire defense as she currently sits at second in the SUN in digs per set with 5.16 while Ryanne VanWyk leads the Fire in assists with 245 (5.1 per set).
 
The week will begin with a 7 p.m. contest against the 3-11 (0-3 SUN) Royals of Warner University. The Royals will jump back into competition after nearly three weeks without an opponent. Through 14 matches, the Lake Wales team has been overcome by attack errors, holding a hitting percentage of .060 with 8.8 kills per set. Senior Gwen Simpson has had the most offensive success with a team-leading 73 kills and .258 hitting percentage. On the other side of the ball, the Royals defense has managed 15.8 digs per set and 1.74 blocks per set behind the 164 and 154 digs from Savannah Griffin and Karla Rodriguez with freshman Emily Via registering 39 total blocks at the net.
 
The Mariners will take on the Fire in the Furnace at 5 p.m. on Friday as they look to grab their first Sun Conference win (8-10, 0-4 SUN) and snap a three-game losing streak. In 16 matches, the Mariners have posted a .158 hitting percentage with 10.16 kills per set and two service aces per set. Sydney Martin has registered a team-leading 119 kills for an average of 2.13 per set while Paula Perez Rosales leads the team in service aces with 24. Defensively, the Mariners average 13 digs per set with Natalia Heguaburu collecting 154 and Martin recording an impressive 46 blocks.
 
The biggest challenge of the week will come on Saturday in a 2 p.m. contest against the Seahawks of Keiser University who currently holds a record of 23-5 and the third-place spot in the Sun Conference with a 4-2 SUN record. As a team, the Seahawks average 13.1 kills per set, a .217 hitting percentage, and 12.4 assists per set while the defense averages 14.5 digs per set and 1.3 blocks per set. Brooklyn Slater and Cassie Cox have done most of the offensive work for the Seahawks with Slater sitting at 249 kills for an average of 4.1 per set while Cox follows just 10 kills behind. The Seahawks currently have the top two defensive players in the conference with Hannah Lynch leading the conference in blocks with 72 and Erika Magin leading in digs with 403.
 
To purchase tickets to the home contests this week, go to https://southeastern.universitytickets.com/w/?cid=170.