LAKELAND, Fla.—The Fire volleyball team put on a show in front of 400+ fans at The Furnace.
Southeastern continued its best start in program history with a convincing 3-0 (25-14, 25-9, 25-15) win over Johnson University.
The Fire got a solid all-around effort from senior Avery Bradshaw, who posted 14 kills, seven digs, and three aces.
“Not only does (Bradshaw) lead us on the court, but her encouragement, her energy she brings, it’s contagious,” said Goldsberry.
Courtney Krause was also involved in every way, posting a match-best 29 assists, and added six kills and six digs, and was in on a block.
SEU led 9-2 in the first set, getting two kills from Bradshaw, and two aces from Keniah Rivera Santiago.
Rivera Santiago finished with 12 digs and five assists.
After falling behind 2-0 in the second set, the Fire went on four long runs to win 25 of the next 32 rallies. The Fire upped their hitting percentage from .103 in the first to .419 in the second, getting 17 kills on 31 attacks with four errors.
Emily Boehlein had three of her six kills during the second.
The third set was the closest, with neither team leading by more than a point until went on a 5-0 run with the Suns up 7-6. Krause posted two of her kills during the run.
“Tonight was a good night, everyone got to play and experience a home crowd,” said Goldsberry. “I knew there would be some ups and downs and slow moments, but I’m pleased with how the girls were able to finish strong.”
The Suns (1-5) had a hard time handling the SEU serves with the Fire posting nine aces, and JU unable to get into its offense. Johnson was limited to just 10 kills on 70 attacks in the three sets compared to 41 kills on 85 by the Fire.
“We had an aggressive offense and our defense was killer, and our serve-receive was great,” said Bradshaw. “I haven’t played in front of a big crowd like that in a while, so it was a great feeling to have everyone cheering.”
Southeastern will open up Sun Conference play on Saturday at 2 p.m. at home against St. Thomas.
