Volleyball Season Ends in Semifinals

TEMPLE TERRACE, Fla. - The Lady Falcons hosted the Continental Athletic Conference Championships in Conn Gymnasium over the weekend. 

College of the Ozarks

#1 Florida College was given their first conference loss of the season early Thursday morning 14-25, 23-25, and 21-25 by #2 College of the Ozarks. The majority of the Bobcat's points in the match came from a variety of Florida College attacking and receiving errors and the Falcons had a hard time working together to pull out the win. Lady Falcons Adriana Bravo and Carolina Ramalheira led the match with 11 kills and nine errors apiece, followed by Bobcat Bri Linehan who had 10 kills and two errors. Setter Madi Lee had 34 of the 38 assists Florida College had as a team compared to Kamryn Link, who assisted 21 of the Bobcat's 28 total kills. Bobcat Mica Chadwell led the match with 22 digs and was trailed by Bravo and Raquel Teixeira.

Florida National University

The Lady Falcons defeated Florida National for the third time this season to push their tournament record to 1-1. Four Florida College players saw double digits in kills, with 16 from Teixeria and Cassidy Lee, who secured a new career high, 15 from Bravo, and 13 from Ramalheira. Florida College tallied 65 total kills throughout the match compared to the Conquistadors' 49. Madi Lee put up 59 assists, just one shy of matching her previous career high. The Lady Falcons showed improvement defensively from their first match of the day and totaled 88 digs to secure the win 25-22, 25-16, 23-25, 20-25, and 15-11 over Florida National.

Haskell Indian Nations University

The Falcons met the Fightin' Indians in their only match of the day on Friday and defeated Haskell in four sets 25-23, 20-25, 25-23, and 25-20. Haskell's Mikeya Sheppard led the match offensively and posted 14 kills and a .275 hitting percentage alongside Florida College's Ramalheira. Madi Lee had a stellar 46 assists and nine digs to help keep the Falcons afloat over the match. Lady Falcons Addeson Coffey, Avery Lanning, Teixeira and Bravo contributed 54 of the 75 digs Florida College had altogether. This win solidified Florida College's #2 seed for the final day of the championships on Saturday. 

Haskell Indian Nations University

#2 Florida College met #3 Haskell Indian Nations University again and lost a hard fought five set semifinal match to close out the season. Haskell took the first two sets of the day 27-25 and 25-21, forcing Florida College to change up their offense and improve on their defense for a chance to take the win over Haskell. The Falcons came together in the next two sets and won both sets 25-17 and 25-22. The fifth set came down to the wire and the Fightin' Indians made their way out on top after the Lady Falcons missed three serves in the 15 point match. Haskell's scrappy defense and serves throughout the match earned themselves a spot to take on the College of the Ozarks in the championship game. Bravo finished out her senior season with 22 kills and a .145 hitting percentage followed by Ramalheira with 14 and Teixeira with 10. Madison Lee totaled 54 assists, five more than Haskell had together. Haskell's Nakooma Pelt hustled for every ball, tallying 37 digs in the match to help secure the win. 

Bravo and Teixeira were named to the CAC All-Tournament Team at the end of the tournament for their performance over their last four matches of the season. 

The Lady Falcons finished the 2023-2024 season with a 21-12 overall record and 8-2 conference record.  

"I hope the girls have their heads held high walking away from the tournament. Our semifinal match was a fight to the end with great competition. It is a tough way to end, but I'm so proud of the fight the girls put forth. I hate it for our seniors who showed quality leadership in that final match. We will miss them greatly!" said head coach Kerri Mitchell.