Panthers Struggle at West Palm Tourney



The opening day of the Bash at the Beach was not kind to the Florida Tech Panthers on Friday. The team dropped two matches, both by the score of 3-0. They lost in the morning to McKendree and in the afternoon match to 10th ranked Washburn.

McKendree won 25-15, 25-20 and 25-22 in the first match. Becca Bower had 14 digs in the loss and Olivia Hersey had a double-double on 11 kills and 11 digs. The Bearcats were stout on defense, holding the Panthers to a .162 hit rate.

In game one, the Panthers won four out of five points about midway through the match to get the score to 13-11, but the Bearcats reeled off five straight points to end the game. 

In game two, the Panthers took a 7-5 lead and kept the game close throughout, with neither team being allowed to go on a long service run, until the Bearcats reeled off five of seven points to end the game.

Florida Tech got off to a promising start, winning five of seven to start game three. McKendree best run came when they battled back from 9-7 down to tie things at 13. They went on to win the next four points and from there, it was an uphill battle for the Panthers, as they never were able to regain the lead.

For more info: Florida Tech/McKendree Box Score



Florida Tech’s second match of the day was a tough matchup against the Ichabods of Washburn. FIT dropped the match, losing 25-20, 25-17, and 25-13. It was as ugly as the scores reflect, with the Panthers putting up a season low in attack rate, at 0.58.

They were just over matched from the get go. They found themselves down 15-3 at one point in game two and they had to win 8 of the last 11 points in game three, just to get to the 25-13 final.

Kiayna O'Neal had a season-best nine kills and Kelly Germain had five kills of her own. The Panthers did not have an ace against Washburn.

For more info: Florida Tech/Washburn Box score

With the losses, the Panthers fell to 2-3 on the season, but will have a shot at redemption Saturday, as they will take on the Lee Flames at 10: 00 a.m. and Ferris State at 5:00 p.m., closing out their weekend at the Hyatt Place Bash at the Beach.

This blog is an extension of our website - Sportslowdown.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sharks Escape with Game One Win Over Panthers

Image
Dan Szpik - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The Florida Tech Panthers fell just short in the series opener at Nova Southeastern on Sunday, as the Sharks hung on for a 7-6 win in game one of a doubleheader. The Panthers (27-18, 11-8 SSC) were victimized by tough luck throughout the game, loading the bases a couple times and not getting the big hit and having a triple play turned by their defense, only to have the call reversed in what turned out to be the deciding play of the game. Panthers starter Ty Cohen (6-5) ran into trouble in the first inning, giving up one run on a Jeremy Vasquez RBI single. Cohen did limit the damage, despite the traffic the Sharks generated. He came back in the bottom of the second and got the Sharks in order, striking out Ryan Alvarez on three pitches and needing a total of six pitches to get out of the inning. Sharks starter Matt Hardy ran into trouble of his own in the third, giving up back-to-back singles to Ryan Sinzenich a...
Read more

Defense Topples Offense in Florida Tech Spring Game

Image
Brandon Ziarno and Antwuan Haynes - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The Florida Tech football team gave their fans a glimpse of what the 2017 squad will look like, as they played their annual Spring game Friday night at Florida Tech Panther Stadium. The game was comprised of 85 plays, with the offense taking on the defense. The defense ultimately came out on top, 35-28. “I thought it was a fairly exciting scrimmage, had some big plays, had some long runs,” said head coach Steve Englehart. “I thought a lot of people did a lot of good things and there’s still a lot of things to work from, as well.” The defense was spotted 28 points to start the game and they could earn different combinations of points, depending on where they made stops and turnovers they forced. The offensive scoring system was conventional, but they had a long way to go to dig out of that hole. Running back Antwuan Haynes , who finished with 87 yards on 17 carries.got the offense on the b...
Read more

Florida Tech Football Clinches Playoff Berth

Image
On the field immediately after Saturday's gam e For the first time in the four-year history of the program, the Florida Tech Panthers are Playoff bound! The team finished the regular season with a convincing 42-16 playoff win over the Delta State Statesmen at Florida Tech Panther Stadium. The victory gave the Panthers their eighth win of the season, setting a school record. They finished 8-2 overall and 5-2 in the Gulf South Conference. “It’s obviously awesome and it’s great for the seniors,” said Florida Tech coach Steve Englehart after the game. “We’re playing bonus ball now and they get another game that wasn’t promised to them. They worked for it, they earned it.” Things didn’t get off to the best start for the Panthers, as they gifted Delta State two points on an attempted punt. The high snap that went out of the end zone and put the visitors on top with 13:37 left in the first quarter. After giving up the safety, the Florida Tech offense kicked it into h...
Read more