Titan volleyball team splits pair at home

The Eastern Florida State College women's volleyball team split a pair of matches at the Titan Field House Saturday.

The Titans faced No. 6 Polk State College in the first match of the day and fell in straight sets, 25-15, 25-17, 25-17. The loss snapped a four-game win streak for the Titans.

"Not taking anything away from Polk, they are a fantastic team but we didn't execute at all, did not stick to the game plan and we didn't do anything we had worked on," Eastern Florida State College women's volleyball coach Andrea Rasmussen said. "They are a great team and we can't come out flat."

The Titans bounced back in the second match of the day, defeating South Florida State College in straight sets 25-17, 25-16, 25-20. And they used a balanced attack as Malvis Ortiz finished with 11 kills, including the final one of the match.

Teammates Jenna Barnak and Rachael Gunn finished with six apiece and Kylie Hurst had five in the win.

"We were able to distribute between all our hitters which opens up the defense for us," Rasmussen said. "We are finding ways to get the middles involved in our offense, I am a fan of middle-heavy offense and I need them to be involved more. We are starting to find that connection and utilize her (Barnak) more. She takes a really nice swing and we need to use her effectively."

The 6-2 Titans will hit the road to play St. John's River at 6 p.m. Tuesday. They have beaten St. John's River in straight sets the first two meetings this season. Eastern Florida returns home on Thursday night, hosting the College of Central Florida at 6 p.m. Admission is free and the game will be shown live on WEFS-TV and streamed at efsctitans.com/webcast

Saturday's results

Polk State d. Eastern Florida, 25-15, 25-17, 25-17

Santa Fe d. South Florida State, 17-25, 23-25, 25-20, 25-14, 25-11

Eastern Florida d. South Florida State, 25-17, 25-16, 25-20

Polk State d. Santa Fe, 25-17, 25-22, 25-16