Panther Volleyball Looks To Make A Run At The Playoffs

AVON PARK - Forget records and standings for the moment - the playoffs for the South Florida Community College Panthers began on Thursday.

Hovering at .500 in Suncoast Conference play, the Panthers dispatched the Polk Community College Vikings in three quick games (30-25, 30-23, 30-19) at Panther Gym with a more fluid team out on the court than in weeks past.

Sophomore Mallory Strall switched from outside hitter to libero recently, when Katie Hausmann was medically cleared to play and was penciled in at the outside hitter position - a move that has sparked the Panthers play of late.

"Moving Mallory to libero really has helped our team tremendously," SFCC head coach Kim Crawford said. "Mallory communicates with the hitters well and Katie [Hausmann] has teamed up with Amy [Birkemeier] to be very formidable at the net."

With the win, the Panthers are 14-8 overall and 4-4 in conference play, which places them in fourth place in the conference behind first place Hillsborough (6-1), Pasco-Hernando (7-1) and St. Pete College (5-3).

The tight race in the conference means the next two games against district foes Manatee and St. Pete College are all the more crucial.

"We have to win those games," Crawford said. "It's time for this program to finally make it to the state tournament. It has been five years for me coaching here and I know the girls really want it. It is just time."

The Panthers took a huge step toward the playoffs by beating a team they should have in the Polk Vikings, who have yet to earn a conference win this season.

But it was far from easy.
The Vikings came out wanting that first conference win, getting great blocking at the net by 6-foot-1 freshman Margaret Hadley, who recorded four blocks and three kills in the first game, in which Polk had a commanding 16-8 lead over the host team.

That moment is when the Panthers awoke from their slumber, as sophomore Michele Remlinger recorded four kills to ignite a 10-2 run that tied the game at 18. The game would go back and forth until SFCC took the lead moments later with the score 24-23 and never looked back.

Sophomore Amy Birkemeier, who quietly recorded just a single kill in the first set, did everything but work the concession stand in the next two games, exploding for 18 kills, including three aces during a 5-0, run that lifted the Panthers to a seven-point lead and the second-game win.

Birkemeier didn't let up in the third game, hitting two powerful kills in the opening moments and, along with front line mates Remlinger and former Avon Park standout Kysi Wooden, applied constant pressure to streak out to a 13-6 lead.

The Panther lead would expand to 11 points and the game looked out of reach until SFCC let its guard down just long enough for Polk to squirm back into the match compliments of an 8-2 run to get the Vikings to within five points. But Birkemeier's five kills down the stretch dispelled any notions of a comeback.

Birkemeier leads the Panthers with 297 kills and 30 aces this season.
Remlinger finished the game with 14 kills and three solo blocks, while Wooden had three kills and a solo block. Strall, who had 34 digs against Pasco-Hernando on Sept. 27, had 18 digs, while Allison Dees recorded 47 assists on the night.

Dees recently tied the SFCC record for most assists in a match with 65 against St. Pete College on Sept. 25.
The Panthers are back on the court on Tuesday when they face Manatee in a district match beginning at 7 p.m.