Pioneers struggle at Daytona

The Pioneers would take to the road for a second time this week against another conference opponent, the Falcons of Daytona State. After dropping their match on Tuesday to Miami-Dade, the River was looking to bounce back and get a much-needed conference win.

The Indian River team came out a little flat and quickly looked outmatched by the Falcons, going down by a large gap early. The Pioneers would eventually calm down and settle into a more back and forth rally focused game; but not before the damage had been done, and the Pioneers were not able to close the gap before losing the first set 18-25.

That would not be the same story for the second set as the Pioneers came out with much more energy and were siding out very efficiently. That mixed with the service pressure, put the pioneers in a great position to take set two after taking a 22-19 lead. Unfortunately, the Falcons were able to rally and tie the game up at 23, before eventually going on to win the set 26-24.

After such a let down from set two the River struggled to recover their energy, and were met with a very aggressive Falcon team in the third set. This did not spell well for the River team and they quickly fell into a big hole, down 15-4 at one point. A late surge from setter Giulia Dias (9 Assists) and Mallory Roney (12 Kills, 10 Digs) helped close the gap to a more respectable margin, but they would ultimately fall to the falcons 25-14 in the third set.

Other notable performers were Jasmine Sayre (16 Digs, 1 Ace) and Bella Rae (19 Assists, 5 Digs)

With this loss, the Pioneers drop to 5-7 Overall with a 4-4 record in the conference.