Box Score MELBOURNE, Fla. (Volleyball) – Florida Tech (5-1) exited the Panther Invitational on Saturday with an unblemished home record. In the final match of the round robin hosted by FIT, the Panthers defeated the scrappy Bulldogs of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez in a thrilling four-setter. After taking the first two sets, Florida Tech needed a fourth to put away the talented Bulldogs squad (25-20, 25-17, 23-25, 25-20).

FIT powered its way through Mayaguez led by senior Kim Juriga's team-high 14 kills. Fellow senior Marilyn Dick and freshman Olivia Hersey also fired double-digit kills, registering 13 and 10 kills respectively. The three hitters combined for eight of the team's 12 total blocks and helped force Mayaguez into 25 total errors, compared to the Panthers' 10 for the contest.

"Overall our front line was stacked against them today," stated head coach Amy O'Brien. "Our outside hitters were just phenomenal. Kim Juriga on the right side hit a .400 and our hitter on the other side, Marilyn Dick, hit a .429. Olivia Hersey was great in the middle as well, hitting a .333 which is just amazing for a freshman. We were pretty dominant at the net, recording 12 team blocks to their six. Most importantly, we achieved our goal entering the weekend which was going 3-0 on our home court."

Senior Ashtin Truesdale also had a great game for the Panthers notching a season-high 42 assists in addition to her 10 digs and three kills against the Bulldogs. Sophomore Becca Bower and senior Payton Bayless were also impressive in this one recording 14 and 13 digs, respectively, while diving all over the floor trying to turn away the Bulldogs attempts. On top of her team-high in digs, Bower also tallied two services aces and five assists.

Next on the slate for the Panthers is a road matchup with Sunshine State Conference provisional member Embry-Riddle on Friday, Sept. 18 at 7 p.m. in Daytona Beach, Florida. Following Friday's contest, the next day the Panthers head home for their SSC home opener versus Rollins College on Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Clemente Center.

Live video and stats will be available for all home volleyball matches this season at FloridaTechSports.com/live.