Women's volleyball team set for FCSAA Division I Championships

The Eastern Florida State College women's volleyball team will compete in the FCSAA Division I Volleyball Championships for the third straight season.

The Titans head into the tournament as the No. 3 seed and will play Hillsborough Community College who is the No. 6 seed at 1 p.m. at Suncoast Credit Union Arena in Fort Myers.

"We are very happy, that is what we were looking for, a good seed. All of the teams at the state tournament are really good, teams like Santa Fe and Hillsborough are coming off good wins so you can't take anyone for granted," Eastern Florida State College women's volleyball coach Melito Eleutiza said. "Our focus is Hillsborough and we feel like we are in a good situation."

Eastern Florida State College, who is in the state tournament for the fourth time, have defeated the Hawks in both meetings this season and are the No. 3 seed for the first time in program history and comes into the tournament with 15 wins which marks the third straight season they have won at least 14 matches.

Sophomore Dominae Jordan comes into the postseason with 258 kills this season, averaging 3.53 per set. Teammate Sophia Iglesias is second in the state in assists per set, averaging 7.91 while Sarah Henault has recorded 319 digs with is fourth in the state.

Hillsborough Community College's Taylor Sass leads the FCSAA with 338 kills and is averaging 3.71 kills per set which is also No. 1 in the FCSAA. Teammate Eimy Domenech has recorded 350 digs which is third in the state.

"We have to put pressure on them with serving, they are tall and big but that is not the first time we have seen them, so our team is prepared for that," Eleutiza said. "For us, we have to be able to pass well and establish our middle game. How much pressure we can put on serves will determine where we will be at the end."

The winner of the Titans-Hawks match will advance to the semifinals on Friday night against No. 2 Miami Dade College, who received a bye in the first round.

The winner of Friday night's match will advance to the title match while the loser will go to the third-place match.

The top two teams will advance to the district tournament next weekend.