Volleyball Starts Season with Three Wins

Volleyball Starts Season with Three Wins
August 23, 2023

The Pirates kicked off their 2023-24 season this past week with two sweeps against Northwest Mississippi Community College and Coastal Alabama-East on Thursday, August 17th.  

During the first match against the Northwest Mississippi Rangers, outside hitter, sophomore Anyaliz Rodriguez and rightside freshman Cadence Goeden led the Pirates with eight kills each, while sophomore libero Kathryn Lupo led the team with 10 digs. Sophomore setter Kiara Vega finished the 3-0 sweep with 24 assists. 

Against the Coastal Alabama Coyotes, the outside and rightside hitters for the Pirates took over the match. Rodriguez led the team with 14 kills, accompanied by Goeden bringing in 10 kills. Right behind them was freshman, middle blocker Riley Carter with nine kills, followed by seven kills from sophomore, middle blocker Paige Patterson. As a team, the Pirates posted a 0.259 hitting percentage on the match, with 44 assists from Vega. On the defensive side, Lupo led in digs with a total of 17. The Pirates finished the final 3-0 match with a total of eight blocks.  

They capped off their first week with a challenging win against the Pensacola Christian College Eagles. The Eagles started the match out strong by taking the first set, but the Pirates fought back and finished on top with the final of 3-1. Lyndi Bakker delivered a stellar performance scoring a career high 18 kills for the Pirates, followed by Goeden with 14. Pensacola State backed up their offense with a strong defense against the Eagles, bringing in a total of eight blocks and 67 digs, led by Lupo with a total of 25 digs on the match. Vega had a solid performance with a total of 51 assists for the match. 

The Pirates will be on the road in Gainesville, FL at the Best Western Santa Fe Classic where they will meet Lurleen B. Wallace Community College on Friday, August 25th at 2:30pm EST, followed by two matches against Enterprise State Community College at 10:00am EST and at 4:00pm EST against the host team, Santa Fe College on Saturday, August 26th.