Women's volleyball team falls in five-set thriller on the road

The Eastern Florida State College women's volleyball team lost a tight five-set battle at No. 18-ranked Daytona State College Thursday night in a Suncoast Conference match.

The Titans, who fell to 8-4 overall and 0-2 in the conference, lost a back-and-forth affair with the Falcons in five sets, losing the fifth 15-13.

The first set saw the teams trading points until Daytona State College went on a 4-0 run to cause the Titans to call timeout. Sofia Kamke had a kill and then a block to cut the lead in half. Then a Delphinia Beams kill along with a Paulina Dobreva kill led to Eastern Florida State College tying the match 17-17. Down 20-22 late, Sophia Knowles had a couple of kills and Flavia Romanelli added one to give the Titans a 24-23 lead. Dobreva served and Kamke added another kill to give the Titans a 1-0 lead.

The second set was tight throughout with the teams tied 20-20 but Daytona State College would win five of the next seven points to even the match 1-1 with a 25-23 win.

Daytona State would continue playing well in the third set, taking a commanding 16-7 lead. Kamke would lead the comeback with a block and a couple of kills. Romanelli would add an ace to cut the lead to 17-13. The Titans would continue to cut into the lead and finally would tie the match 23-23 on a Gaia Riedmuller service point. Kamke would have a couple of kills to keep it tied and then Paulina Dobreva put the Titans ahead 27-26  with a kill and then Emma Kiser finished the set with a kill to give the Titans a 28-26 win and 2-1 lead.

The fourth set was tight until Daytona turned a one-point lead into a 25-16 win forcing a fifth set.

The fifth set was filled with great plays from both sides as the Falcons took an early lead just to see the Titans come storming back behind aces from Saba and Dobreva. Tied 13-13, the Titans could not come up with the big play, falling short 15-13.

Eastern Florida State College has lost the past two matches against top 20 teams in the nation and will be back on the court Thursday night, hosting Indian River State College at 6 p.m. at Titan Field House on the Melbourne campus.