Volleyball team beats No. 4 Polk State and SCF Manatee

The Eastern Florida State College women's volleyball team opened the Indian River State College-Eastern Florida State College opening weekend tournament with a big four-set win over fourth-ranked Polk State College at Titan Field House on the Melbourne campus.

With the Titans leading 2-1, the fourth set was a tight one as the two teams traded the lead for much of the set and that continued until Lorrayne Silva's kill gave the Titans a 28-27 lead and then won the match 29-27.

"We played very well form the very first set, we came out and played strong, had ball control and served aggressively. We put ourselves in position to be successful and we were able to get them out of their system quite a bit and give our defense to play through. We did a really good job," Eastern Florida State College volleyball coach Andrea Rasmussen said.

The Titans came out swinging and took a 13-5 lead in the first set and rolled to a 25-17 opening set win. Polk State College won the second set 25-18 before the Titans won five of the final seven points to take the third set 25-22.

In the second match of the game, the Titans picked up a straight set win over the State College of Florida Manatee, 25-16, 25-23, 25-19.

Barbara Cabo Grubisic had 37 assists in the match while Kylie Hurst finished with 11 kills and two blocks while Ariel Letcher finished with five aces, nine kills and a block.

The Titans will open Day 2 of the tournament against St. Johns River at noon and then face Mid-Florida Conference foe Lake Sumter at 4 p.m. Lake Sumter and St. Johns River will play at 2 p.m.

"We see another conference opponent in Lake Sumter and then open with St. Johns River and they are both strong teams," Rasmussen said. "It will be a challenge for us."