LAKELAND, Fla. -- The SEU Volleyball team continued its winning ways on Wednesday night inside The Furnace, defeating New College of Florida 3–1 (19–25, 25–23, 25–17, 25–17) to clinch a berth in the Sun Conference Tournament and extend its winning streak to eight. With the victory, SEU improved to 17-2 overall and 8-1 in Sun play.
New College came out firing, jumping ahead 6–1 behind early kills from Wiktoria Telecka and Jayleen Santiago, forcing a Southeastern timeout. Out of the break, SEU strung together a short run behind
Laura Bonomi and
Marysa Connors, who served two aces and added a kill to trim the deficit to 10–8. The Mighty Banyans answered with a 6–0 surge of their own, capitalizing on Fire attack miscues to pull away 16–10. Southeastern showed fight late, with
Jewel Carling and
Emma Reed recording key blocks to bring it to 24–19, but an SEU service error ended the frame. NCF hit .243 in the opener while SEU managed just .032, dropping the set 25–19.
The second set mirrored the first early, with the visitors taking a 10–7 lead before Southeastern began to settle in. Bonomi sparked the offense with a pair of cross-court kills, and
Lucrezia Ceroni added a block to bring SEU within one. After a timeout, the Fire found their best rhythm of the night —
Mallori Grey delivered back-to-back aces to tie the match at 17, igniting the crowd. Down 22–19, SEU mounted a late rally with
Yarelis Lopez scoring three of the final six points, including the clinching kill off an assist from
Ashley Downs, giving the Fire a 25–23 comeback win and evening the match at one set apiece.
SEU carried the momentum into the third, taking an early 5–3 lead on a Bonomi kill and a block from Reed and Lopez. After a brief NCF run, SEU turned the tide with a seven-point surge highlighted by Bonomi's pair of aces and a pair of Lopez kills from the right side. The Fire hit .184 in the set while holding New College to just .049. The combination of
Haven Speer and Downs kept the Fire balanced offensively, while Ceroni anchored the middle with timely blocks. Southeastern never trailed again, closing the set 25–17 with a Lopez ace to take a 2–1 match lead.
The Fire never trailed in the fourth as they wasted no time asserting control. Connors opened the frame with a kill, an ace, and a pair of tough serves that forced a New College timeout trailing 6–1. The Fire defense continued to frustrate the visitors, with Carling and Ceroni teaming up for blocks as SEU built a 15–7 advantage. Bonomi and Lopez sealed the night with back-to-back kills late in the frame, and Speer's service ace pushed the score to match point before Bonomi closed it out with her 14th kill of the night, 25–17.
Bonomi recorded a double-double with 14 kills, 26 digs, and two aces, while Lopez led the team in kills with 15, adding 10 digs and three blocks.
Jewel Carling chipped in four kills, and Connors contributed 14 digs and three aces. Speer tallied 20 assists, with Downs adding 15, while Reed (6 blocks), Ceroni (4), and Maske (4) anchored a front line that totaled 11 team blocks.
As a team, Southeastern outhit New College .154 to .130 and held decisive advantages in service aces (10–3) and blocks (11–5). The Fire also posted 42 assists and 76 digs, compared to 45 assists and 80 digs for New College.
Southeastern will look to keep its momentum rolling on the road this weekend, traveling to Ave Maria for a 2 p.m. first serve on Saturday, October 18.
