MELBOURNE, Fla. (Volleyball) – Looking to make it two straight wins at the Clemente Center, Florida Tech welcomed Sunshine State Conference rival Saint Leo to their home court on Tuesday night. The Panthers (11-13, 2-10 SSC) jumped out to an early lead over the Lions, taking the first set, but SLU (17-8, 8-4 SSC) responded quickly by winning the next three to walk away with a 3-1 victory (22-25, 25-19, 25-15, 25-20).

The win gives the Lions the season sweep of FIT this season, after also defeating the Panthers in four sets on Oct. 2 in Saint Leo, Florida.

Olivia Hersey paced FIT's offense with 13 kills, matching her season-high. Kim Juriga recorded nine kills, three digs and one block, while Marilyn Dick and Jenna Schaffer added seven kills each. In addition to her work at the net, Schaffer also finished with 13 digs in the match. Another Panther who had a strong performance was Ashtin Truesdale who notched 33 assists and a season-best 20 digs in the contest.

Leading the Lions was the hard-hitting Hope Lemon who registered a match-high 19 kills to go along with eight digs. Also contributing at the net was Anna Siruckova and Britt Sederholm, who tallied 15 and 12 kills, respectively. Ashlee Hodgskin dished out a match-high 42 assists and Jamee Townsend led all players with 23 digs in the contest.

FIT was outhit by its opponent .324-.269, however the Panthers did finish with more total team blocks than the Lions, 4-3.

The Panthers now turn their attention to their next home match against SSC foe Eckerd College this Friday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. ET. The contest will be played at Palm Bay Magnet High School, just down the road from Florida Tech.

FIT last played EC on Oct. 3 in St. Petersburg, Florida, a match in which the Tritons won 3-1.

Fans can access live coverage of the Panthers' match at FloridaTechSports.com/live.