MELBOURNE, Fla. (Volleyball) – Looking to start the season on the right foot, the Florida Tech volleyball team (1-0) picked up a well-deserved 3-1 win over Georgia College to nightcap the first day of the Panther Invitational at the Clemente Center on Friday evening.
 
FIT took the first two sets in the matchup with scores of 25-19 and 25-17. The Panther defense smothered the Bobcats in those stanzas, allowing their opponent to hitting just .094 and -.083, respectively. GC then forced a fourth set with a 25-21 win in the third. The Bobcats led throughout much of the fourth, even grabbing a 23-19 advantage. However, the Crimson & Gray came storming back with eight of the final 10 points to close out the match against the Peach Belt Conference opponent.
 
Senior Jenna Schaffer guided the Panthers with a match-high 14 kills on .333 hitting and nine digs. Sophomore Olivia Hersey was second in the match with 13 kills and led all hitters with a .565 attack percentage. Fellow sophomore Kelly Germain collected 10 kills and 12 digs to earn her first career double-double.
 
Sophomore Kiersten Rosa set a new career-high with 38 assists, and completed her own double-double with 14 digs. Junior libero Becca Bower led all players with 18 digs to go along with six assists. Hersey and sophomore Heather Bowersox, who had eight kills in the match, combined for nine block-assists against the Bobcat hitters.
 
Taylor Svehla powered GC with 11 kills on .333 hitting. Alongside her, Ebony Powers and Miller Howard notched nine kills and two block-assists apiece. Chandler Ewaldsen picked up a team-high 15 digs, while Kayla Brockway triggered the Bobcat offense with 35 assists and 14 digs.
 
The Panthers in action twice on Saturday beginning at 9 a.m. ET against Wilmington (Del.) and then closing out the Panther Invitational at 1 p.m. versus Puerto Rico Mayaguez. For live coverage of the action, go to FloridaTechSports.com/live.