River Gets the Sweep at Home

The Pioneers would return home this week after a long and dramatic match versus Polk last Thursday. Coming off of that hard fought win, the River was determined to keep their streak going and try to cement their bid to the State Tournament. State College of Florida had already hosted the Pioneers at home where IRSC was able to pull out a victory in three sets; and the Pioneers would hope to do it again.

The match began and the Pioneers were ready to protect their home court as they jumped out to a very quick 10-2 lead, leaving the Manatees looking for answers. None would be found. The rest of the set would stay much the same as the Pioneers served their way to an easy set one victory (25-11) with five aces as a team.

Set two began in a similar fashion with more aggressive serving from the Pioneers jumping them out to a double digit lead. At one point in this set the Pioneers led 15-4, and they stayed on that course to the end of the set, closing it out 25-11.

The third set got a little bit more interesting however, as the Manatees were not ready to go down without a fight. The Pioneers had been dominating the set for the first half until the Manatees got on a little run behind some aggressive serving and blocking. SCF charged back from 7-13 to take a 15-13 lead and force a Pioneer timeout. A couple back and forth side outs we exchanged until eventually it was tied at 21-21. But much like the rest of the match, it was a story of serve and pass, and the pioneers would close out the third set 25-21 behind the aggressive serving of Doris de Prato (10 Kills, 3 Aces)

Other standout performances include Elise LLorens (10 Digs, 2 Aces), Sam Dibene (4 Kills, 3 Aces), and Bella Rae (19 Ast, 6 Digs)

This win versus the Manatees bring the Pioneers to 7-7 Overall and 6-4 in the Suncoast Conference, their next match is on the road on Thursday against #1 Florida SouthWestern at 6pm.