Hawks Claw Past South Florida

AVON PARK -- Outhustled, overmatched and outplayed.

Words that the South Florida Community College Panthers are not accustomed to having attached to themselves this year.

The Hillsborough Community College Hawks thoroughly beat the Panthers on Thursday night in three-straight games and exposing a weakness that hasn't showed its ugly head this season -- a lack of desire.

"This loss really deflated me a bit," SFCC head coach Kim Crawford said. "I thought we would come out and do better against this team. We struggled the first two games, but the last game we just gave up. I think the girls were going through the motions. We just got beat by a better team."

That lack of desire showed itself during the third game, when the Panthers went down 12-5 early and never rebounded. Hillsborough freshman Emily Calderon-Reyes blasted two kills and blocked a shot during the run that forced Crawford to call a time-out. A 12-6 run by the Hawks after the SFCC time-out, showed that the Panthers were not mentally ready to face this level of competition, as they wilted in the third game by the score of 30-13.

Hillsborough played like a a team that wanted it more, showing great poise and excellent defense that foiled the Panthers attempts at gaining momentum in the match.

Calderon-Reyes for the Hawks was the catalyst for the high-powered offense, firing her explosive shots with pinpoint accuracy, finishing with 17 kills against SFCC.

The Panthers had no answer for Calderon-Reyes, who was able to strike from anywhere on the court, hitting numerous kills from behind the middle line.

"We saw some athletes that we haven't seen before," Crawford said. "She [Emily Calderon-Reyes]
was a monster. We couldn't do anything to stop her tonight."

Calderon-Reyes made her presence felt from the beginning, striking for two kills in the opening moments of the match for an early 5-1 lead, but SFCC held tough to claw its way back to within two points. Panther freshman Kaylee Pendarvis had two kills and a block to keep things close, but an 8-4 run by the Hawks clearly showed what team the momentum resided.

The Panthers came out with more energy in the second game, using good passes to set up quality shots that caught the Hawks off-guard. Sophomore Amy Birkemeier was deadly from the outside position, firing two kills and playing great net defense, as SFCC went up 6-4.

High energy and good position doesn't win matches at the junior college level, as the Hawks responded as good teams do, exploding for a 10-1 run to take a commanding seven point lead.

The Hawks maintained the status quo until miscues and quality play by the Panthers let SFCC back into the game, with Hillsborough's lead at 25-23. That would be as close as the Panthers would get to victory, as the Hawks got back on track for a 30-25 win.

Crawford was at a loss for words after the match in trying to explain her team's performance.

"It isn't enough to be in the right spot," the fifth-year Panther head coach said. "You have to execute."

Freshman Allison Dees finished with 26 assists for SFCC, while Birkemeier had 14 kills and Michele Remlinger had 11 for the Panthers.

SFCC kicks off a six-game road trip on Tuesday, when they travel to face Polk Community College. The next Panther home match is on September 29 against Warner Southern.