Lady Falcons 10th in Nation and 2nd in Mid-Florida Conference
October 19th, 2016
Daytona State College has tackled the adversities that the season will deal you and have come out on the other side with gained confidence and perspective. Early in the season the Falcons top outside hitter, Erika Barbour, found herself suffering from chronic leg pain and was soon sidelined. The absence of her presence on the court and her 4.24 kills per set that she brought to the Lady Falcon's offense, caused a brief shakeup for the Falcons.
The Falcons experienced a rocky couple of weeks as they made the transition of freshmen, Kyra Ross, and sophomore, Madison Rogers, to the consistent players on the outside for the Falcons. Both have stepped up tremendously and provide the Falcons with a significant offensive presence. Additionally sophomore, Tania Kottke has seen her role with Daytona State grow drastically, as she has become a 6 rotational right side for the Falcons offering them offensive fire power from the front and back row. She currently leads the Falcons with 223 kills this season averaging just over 3 per set.
Freshman setter, Emily DeStaffino has masterfully led the Falcon's offense, providing 711 assists on the season, placing her 15th in the nation in assists per set.
The Falcons have persevered and have seen their Mid-Florida Conference play excel as they look to complete conference play next Tuesday in a makeup game with Florida State College at Jacksonville on the road. Tomorrow, the Lady Falcons will get an opportunity to avenge their only conference loss to College of Central Florida at the G. Lemerand Center on the Daytona State campus at 7pm.
As the Lady Falcons boast a 14-7 record overall and a 7-1 Mid-Florida Conference record, they have slowly worked their way up in the NJCAA National Poll. The Falcons have spent every week of the season in the national poll, but finally broke into the top 10 with this week's rankings.
The Lady Falcons solidified a spot in the NJCAA Region 8 Tournament that will get underway November 4-6th, and will determine which two possible three teams will make their way to Casper Wyoming this November to compete in the 2016 NJCAA National Volleyball Tournament.