Women's volleyball team to play Polk State for third at state tournament

The Eastern Florida State College women's volleyball team lost in the semifinals of the FCSAA/NJCAA Division I Southeast District Tournament on Friday at Titan Field House.

The Titans advanced to the semifinals with a win against Hillsborough Community College in the first round but lost in straight sets to No. 1 seed Florida Southwestern in the final match of the first day.

The match started out tight with Eastern Florida down on, 6-5. But Florida Southwestern would pull away, scoring 12 of the next 15 points to lead 18-8. The Titans would stay even with the Bucs the rest of the first set, but could not cut into the lead. Florida Southwestern would continue playing well, recording the 25-13, 25-9 win.

Florida Southwestern was led by Barbara Koehler's nine kills.

The Titans will play Polk State College at noon on Saturday at Titan Field House for third place while Florida Southwestern advanced to the championship game, where they will play Miami Dade College for the Southeast District A Championship and a spot in the NJCAA Division I National Championships.

The day began with No. 6 seed Polk State College defeating No. 3 Daytona State College in three sets, 26-24, 32-30, 25-11. The first two sets were back and forth and very close as Polk State lead the first set 23-19 before Daytona State College rattled off four points to tie things at 24-24. But eventually Polk State would hang on for the 26-24 win.

The second set saw Polk State once again take a nice lead, up 19-12 before Daytona State would score eight of the next nine to tie things at 20-20. This time the teams battled back and forth with both teams coming up with clutch plays to keep the match going. Polk State would score two straight to win the second set 32-30.

The win carried Polk State College as they cruised to a straight set win with a 25-11 third set win.

Polk State's Crismeyli Rodrigues finished with 13 kills, 17 digs, three blocks and a couple of aces while Kaila Ru had 10 kills and three blocks. Laura de Chavarria Munoz led Daytona State with 12 kills and 13 digs.

The Eagles played in the first semifinal Friday afternoon against No. 2 seed Miami Dade but the Sharks would win the first set 25-13.

The second set saw Polk State take a 14-12 lead but the Sharks would go on a run and win the second set 25-17 before wrapping up the match with a 25-18 win to advance to the championship match.

Miami Dade's Alexandra Koleva finished with 30 assists while Jazmin Vergara and Romina Cornelio each had nine kills. Polk State's Rodrigues and Carolina Guerreiro each had seven kills.

Daytona State College will open Day 2 of play against Hillsborough Community College. Then the Titans will take the court against Polk State College for third place.

The championship game will begin at 3 p.m. between Florida Southwestern and Miami Dade College. Admission to Titan Field House is $10 for fans and every match will be shown live online at the EFSC Titans YouTube page.