Pioneers Volleyball Drops Home Match Against Eastern

The Pioneer Volleyball team looked to protect their home court on a special night as they celebrated their sophomore night this past Saturday. They would host their closest conference rival, the Titans of Eastern Florida, and would look to get payback after losing to them in four sets last month. The Pioneers would take the floor with all four of their sophomores starting the game, Ceylin Kizilkaya, Nadia Lewis, Greta Klotz, and Re'na "Storm" Ashley.

The first set started off back and forth but the energy on the home side was high from the moment of the first serve and it soon became infectious.  IRSC rallied off multiple serves and some big blocks as they took a double-digit lead over eastern. The Titans would take both timeouts trying to halt the run of the River, but they wouldn't be denied and won the first set 25-14.

The second set was a different story. The Titans woke up and started playing much sharper and with a lot more heart, and IRSC struggled to maintain their energy through this set. With a couple unforced errors and some poor serve receive, the Pioneers soon found themselves tied at 1-1.

The third set was very back and forth with lots of ties and lead changes occurring all the way through the middle of the game. It looked like the Pioneers were going to make a run but then a couple unforced errors and a missed serve gave Eastern an advantage that they carried all the way to a 25-22 victory.

The fourth set didn't look good for IRSC as they started out losing a few points in a row, but they would rally with some heartfelt defense and push this game all the way to the end. Tied at 20s, it was anyone's game, but right along with the theme of the day, a couple of unforced errors gave way to a fourth set loss, 25-22

The Pioneers fall to 5-14 after this loss and look to get a win against Polk next Tuesday at home.