IRSC Women’s Volleyball Shows Fight and Resilience During Three-Match Stretch

The Indian River State College Women's volleyball squad showed that they can compete with some of the nation's best, and perhaps join their ranks this season, dropping two tough five-setters to the 13^th and 16^th ranked teams in the nation. They also showed resilience in being able to bounce back and play very solid volleyball in a 3-0 sweep of Lake Sumter College in Lake Sumter.

Friday, against 16^th ranked Daytona State College, the Pioneers won game one convincingly, dropped sets two and three, and then prevailed in the fourth set to force a decisive game 5. Daytona ultimately survived the Pioneers, 15-11.

The Pioneers put forth a solid effort on offense, with three players finishing with double-digit kills. Freshman Outside Hitter Ayannah Henry led the charge with 17 kills, with an attack rate of .262 on 42 attempts. Sophomore Opposite Lindsay Glynn 14 kills, while Sophomore Middle Blocker Jacki Schmitz had a break-out performance offensively finishing with 11 kills and a.450 hitting percentage. Schmitz also recorded seven blocks for the second consecutive match.

Defensively, IRSC was led by Sophomore Libero Rebecca Sills, who joined the 25 dig club for the fourth time this season, finishing with 26 digs.

Freshman Setter Jada Bivins delivered 33 assists and finished second for the Pioneers in digs with 18.

Saturday, in their first of two matches against 13^th ranked Santa Fe College, the Pioneers dropped the first set, and rebounded to win the second and third sets before dropping a close fourth set and being outlasted 15-10 in the fifth.

The IRSC attack was led by Glynn, who finished with 14 kills. Henry and Sophomore Outside Hitter Jenna Erwin finished with 13 and 11 kills respectively. 

Bivins led the team in digs with 19, while delivering 26 assists, and Sills contributed 16 digs of her own. Freshman Setter Erin Ergle finished with 19 assists and 12 digs.

In the second match of the day Saturday, the Pioneers could've have gotten down emotionally after two tough five-set defeats, but such was not the case. The Pioneers rose to the occasion and showed resilience, refusing to concede a set to Lake Sumter.

IRSC prevailed in straight sets 25-20, 25-22, and 25-20.

Glynn again led the charge on offense, collecting 13 kills in 24 attempts for a .333 hitting clip.  Henry finished with 8 kills while Erwin contributed 6 as well.

Sills nearly joined the 25 dig club for the second time in three matches, racking up 23 defended attacks. Erwin recorded 16 digs and Ergle contributed 9 digs of her own. 

The Pioneers are back in action Wednesday against conference rival Miami-Dade College.