SAINT LEO, Fla. – The Florida Tech volleyball team fell to Saint Leo on Tuesday night by a score of 3-1. Tech was trailing 2-0 before winning the third set avoiding the sweep before falling In the fourth set to the Lions. The Panthers moved to 12-11 overall and 4-8 in the Sunshine State Conference while Saint Leo moved to 10-13 overall and 3-9 in the conference play.
 
Final: Florida Tech 1, Saint Leo 3
Records: Florida Tech (12-11, 4-8 SSC), Saint Leo (10-13, 3-9 SSC)
Location: Marion Bowman Activities Center | Saint Leo, Fla.
 
STATS OF THE MATCH:

• The Panthers took control of set one jumping out to a 6-3 lead over the Lions early on.
• The Lions tied the set back up at 8-8 before Tech regained the lead 11-9. Three straight points from Saint Leo gave the Lions a 12-11 lead.
• Saint Leo would not trail for the remainder of the set from this point on.
• A four-point Lion run followed by a three-point run from the Panthers put the score at 17-18.
• Lead 23-21 the Lions scored the last two points of the set to take the 1-0 lead over the Panthers.
• Set two saw five ties In the first 10 points of the match before Saint Leo scored two points to lead 7-5.
• The Panthers would tie the set back up at 14-14 before back-and-forth action saw the Panthers regain the lead 18-17.
• The final points of the set were back and forth as the Panthers took the lead 25-24 in the win by two set before the Lions scored three straight points to take the set 27-25 and go ahead in the match 2-0.
• The Crimson and Grey didn't go down easily as in the third set the went ahead 4-2. The panthers would not trail for the entire set from this point on.
• A three-point run helped push Tech's lead out to 11-6, before the Lions scored four points to bring the match to within one.
• Another three-point run gave the Panthers the 15-11 lead and shortly after recorded four unanswered point to lead 20-13.
• With the Panthers leading 23-18, Saint Leo came within one point of the Panthers to make the set 23-22 before the Panthers scored two straight points and earn the 25-22 set win, avoiding the sweep and make the match score 2-1 Saint Leo.
• The fourth set saw Saint Leo jump out to an early 8-2 lead before Tech brought the match to within three points at 9-6 until Saint Leo scored four unanswered points and jumped ahead 13-6.
• The Panthers would look to get back into the set where trailing 19-12 they scored three points to make it a 19-14 set.
• The Lions eventually edged the Panthers taking the set 25-19 and winning the match 3-1.
• Ashley Rants lead all Tech players in kills and points scoring 14 kills and totaling 15.5 points.
• Lilian Muszynski recorded the second most points on the team and season high numbers with 12 kills and 13.5 points along with one solo block and one block assist.
• With 10 kills, Lexi Lueger scored the third most points on the team with 11.5 from her kills, one solo block and one block assist.
• Kari Bogen led the team with 21 digs.
• Kenzie Delacher led the team in assists with 33 set assists.

 
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

• The Panthers are now 24-34 against Saint Leo dating back to 1992.
• Techs last win at Saint Leo was November 14, 2003.
• Since 2006, the panthers are 3-27 against the Lions with 2-of-3 wins happening since the start of the 2021 season.
• Kenzie Delacher reached 800 assists this season for a total of 805 assists. She is the third freshman to do so in program history and the first freshman to do so since Alexis Mastela in 2009. 
• Kari Bogen's 423 digs ranks her for the most in the SSC.
• Delacher's 805 assits puts her with the highest assists total in the conference.

UP NEXT: The Florida Tech volleyball team will return home after five matches on Friday, October 28^th at 7:00 PM to face Palm Beach Atlantic in the Charles and Ruth Clemente Center. The team will also be holding a white out so fans should plan on wearing white to the match to support the team and pack the Clemente Center.
 
For the latest news, updates, and information on the Florida Tech volleyball team, visit FloridaTechSports.com. Fans can also stay up to date on the latest Panthers news by following Florida Tech Athletics on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.