Honolulu, Hawaii – Florida Tech Volleyball traveled across the country this week to compete in the Aloha State Showdown on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. The Panthers will play four matches in Honolulu over the next three days, starting with tonight's match-up against one of the hosts of the weekend, Hawaii Pacific. Tech is no stranger to the state of Hawaii, having played in the Aloha State in 2014. The Panthers are also led by Assistant Coach Pualehua Keola, Volunteer Assistant Coaches Danlynn Silva and Royden Silva, who are all native to Hawaii. In what was a match of constant runs and changing momentum, Tech's outside hitters led the way.
MATCH ONE - Aloha State Showdown:
Final: Florida Tech Panthers 3, Hawaii Pacific Sharks 1
Set Recap: (
27-25), (
25-20), (25-
16), (
25-19)
Records: Florida Tech (3-1)
| Hawaii Pacific (2-4)
Location: The Shark Tank
| Honolulu, Hawaii
STATS OF THE MATCH:
First Set: Florida Tech 27, Hawaii Pacific 25
- The Panthers first point in Hawaii came via an Ashley Rants kill before jumping out to an early 3-0 lead.
- The Sharks came right back with a small run of their own and after an Elisa Broggio kill, the match was tied at 4-4.
- Unfortunately for the Panthers, the Hawaii Pacific run continued as they led 8-4 early in the first set.
- Tech responded right back with a huge run of their own and retook the lead 10-9 with kills from Cordelia Kearns and Devyn Glassgold.
- Hadley Waldren began to take over the middle of the first set with two service aces and another serve that caused a bad serve from the Sharks. She also added a kill on a perfectly placed swing, forcing the Sharks to use a timeout.
- While Hawaii Pacific got back on the board after the timeout, Tech went right back to work with kills from Devyn Glassgold and Isabelle Clark, as well as a service ace from Kenzie Delacher.
- In what can only be described as a set of runs, after the Panthers led 18-12, the Sharks used a 6-1 stretch to claw their way back into the first set.
- With the score 19-19, neither team would find more than a two-point separation, forcing the first set to head into extra points.
- With their back against the wall, trailing 25-24, Elisa Broggio and Cordelia Kearns earned back-to-back kills to put Tech back in front before a Shark attack error gave Tech the set win.
Second Set: Florida Tech Panthers 25, Hawaii Pacific 20
- Following a back-and-forth first set, the second set was more of the same.
- Elisa Broggio got the scoring going for Tech before the Sharks jumped out to an early 7-3 lead.
- Kills from Ayisha Mission and Devyn Glassgold got the Panthers back on track as they pulled back to within one point.
- Despite the Panthers fighting hard to get back into the set, the Sharks used four kills to stay in front 12-8.
- However, Tech did not give in and used kills from Devyn Glassgold, Elisa Broggio and Ashley Rants to tie up the second set at 12-12.
- The Panthers then took the lead on a smooth fake set kill from Kenzie Delacher.
- Both teams then started trading points as the scoreline remained deadlocked at 1
- After the momentum-swinging play from Delacher, the Panthers went on their first big run of the set and led 19-16.
- Back-to-back kills from Ayisha Missipo, plus kills from Ashley Rants and Hadley Waldren helped the Panthers secure the win in the second set and the 2-0 advantage in the match.
Third Set: Florida Tech Panthers 16, Hawaii Pacific 25
- After taking a 2-0 match lead, Tech knew Hawaii Pacific was going to come out aggressive in order to try and force a fourth set.
- The Sharks did just that and began the third set with a 6-1 run.
- Ayisha Missipo earned a kill and Elisa Broggio registered a service ace to stop the run, but Hawaii Pacific still led 11-4 after fifteen points.
- Tech tried to mount a comeback with a combination of points from Devyn Glassgold (kill), Cordelia Kearns (kill) and a service ace from Kenzie Delacher but the Sharks still held a commanding lead of 17-8.
- The Panthers then used a 7-3 run to build momentum and pull within seven points of the Sharks.
- Despite the comeback effort, the Hawaii Pacific's early lead was too much to overcome, allowing the Sharks to take the third set.
Fourth Set: Florida Tech Panthers 25, Hawaii Pacific 19
- While the Panthers dropped the third set, they outscored HPU 11-5 at the end and were looking to continue building off that momentum.
- After the Sharks grabbed the opening point of the set, the Panthers forced three attack errors to take an early 5-2 lead.
- Both teams then began trading kills and errors, but a small 3-0 run from the Sharks led to a 7-7 deadlock.
- It was at this point in the set that the Panthers began to take over. Another kill from a setter (Kelly Merz), followed by a big block from Isabelle Clark and another ace from Hadley Waldren sparked a huge unanswered run for Tech.
- Back-to-back kills from Ayisha Missipo and Clark helped the Panthers run reach 5-0.
- Hawaii Pacific was able to get back on the scoreboard, but a Cordelia Kearns kill coupled with a service ace from Kenzie Delacher pushed the Tech lead to 14-9.
- Although the Sharks were able to pull within one point, strong defense from Kari Voelstad Bogen and two straight kills from Cordelia Kearns and Elisa Broggio kept Tech out in front.
- Three more kills from Kearns helped the Panthers take full control of the fourth set as they took a 21-15 lead.
- Elisa Broggio and Devyn Glassgold added more kills on big swings as the Panthers closed out the set and took the match 3-1.
NOTABLE PANTHERS:
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
- With 4 service aces in the match, Kenzie Delacher is now two aces shy of 100 for her Florida Tech career.
- Tonight's match-up was the first meeting between these two programs; the Panthers are now 1-0 all-time against the Sharks.
UP NEXT: The Panthers will take the court in less than 24 hours for their second match of the Aloha State Showdown. Tech will face Central Washington at 6 PM ET (12 PM HST) before wrapping up their trip to Hawaii with a double header on Saturday. The final three matches of the weekend will take place on the campus of Chaminade University of Hawaii.
For the latest news, updates and information on the Florida Tech Volleyball, 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
