BABSON PARK, Fla. – The 2021 season opener for the Webber International University women’s volleyball team resulted in a 3-1 (25-10, 22-25, 25-22, 25-23) victory for the Warriors at home against the Florida College Falcons.

The win gives Webber (1-0 overall) its first win of the season and breaks a three-match losing streak for the Warriors against Florida College (0-1) dating back to 2019. It was also the first career win for new Head Coach Matt Geer leading the program.

Webber started off its new season with a great first set, breaking out to a 16-4 lead while holding the Falcons to only 10 points in the set. Webber hit .214 percent in the frame while working to limit the Falcons to only one kill and a -.579 percentage.

The second set and the rest of the match, however, would be a more back-and-forth affair as each of the remaining three sets were decided by three points or less.

The Warriors would have the lead 19-18 late in the second set before allowing the Falcons to score six straight points to give Florida College the 24-19 lead.

Then in the third set, Webber again trailed late, this time at 22-19, but was able to rally in a big way with a 6-0 run of its own to steal the set and take a 2-1 set lead.

Down 22-21 in the fourth set, the Warriors again came from behind to win it as a kill by Bailey Sikkema followed by back-to-back service aces by Kiersten Tisdale made it 24-22 Webber. Another kill by Sikkema two points later gave the home team its big win on opening day.

Webber was led offensively by Sikkema with 11 kills followed by Nadia Reid with nine and
Yanileb Figueroa and Savannah Wilhite both with eight. Wilhite, a freshman middle blocker from Melbourne, Florida, also finished with a very effective .333 attack percentage.

Amanda Vega had a standout performance with 33 assists and 11 digs on the day for a season-opening double-double.

Defensively, another freshman middle blocker, Tanasha Cooksey, made her presence felt with five assisted blocks. Last but not least, sophomore Kiersten Tisdale would finish with a match-high 14 kills.

Next up for the Warriors will be a doubleheader against No.13 nationally-ranked Viterbo University in two days on Monday, August 16, at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Following that, Webber will travel to West Palm Beach, Florida, to participate in the Keiser Volleyball Invitational on Thursday, August 19, as they match up against Indiana University East and Taylor University.

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LAKELAND Fla. – The Florida College Falcons handed the Freed-Hardeman Lions their first loss of the season on Friday night, 98-92.

The high scoring affair started off with fireworks, as the Falcons took a 17-9 lead after a Matt Simpson three-ball from Ladarron Cleveland. After a timeout, FHU would answer as they seemed to most of the night, going on a 5-0 run to make it a one-possession game again. Simpson would score eight straight for the Falcons to extend the lead to 8.

At the 8:44 mark of the second half, a Sam Brown layup put FC up 13 over FHU. The Lions would get it as close as 6 in the first half from that point but trailed by 9 at the half.

Freed started out the second half on a 4-0 run to pull within five. FC then put on a 10-2 run to take a 13-point lead with 16:26 left.

The largest lead of the game was 14-point for FC. They never saw it get less than six until under a minute left when FHU’s Kortland Martin made a very deep three-pointer to briefly pull the opposition within 4.

The Falcons and Lions both shot great percentages from the floor. Both teams made 14 threes. The Falcons led from wire to wire in the contest.

Five players reached double-figures for the away team on the scoreboard. Jalon Perry continued his strong play, leading the way for FC with 24 points on 9-of-16 shooting. Ladarron Cleveland extended his double-digit scoring streak to 7 games. He poured in a career-high 21 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists. Matt Simpson had 19 points. Sam Brown had an FC career-best 17 points and 14 rebounds. Bryan Chong earned his first career start, chipping in a big 13 points in the process. The Falcons only turned the ball over 7 times to the Lions.

“Extremely proud of this group tonight,” mentioned head coach Chase Teichmann. “They really locked in and executed versus a terrific opponent. Freed-Hardeman is extremely hard to defend. They are deep and talented. This is a great win for us. We will need to keep the same focus tomorrow when we play Truett.”

The win puts the Falcons at 6-3 on the year. They take on Truett-McConnell University tomorrow at 4 p.m. (ET) in Lakeland, Fla., at Southeastern University.

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BRUNSWICK, Ga. – The College of Coastal Georgia Mariners (0-1) fell to the Florida College Falcons (1-0) by just two points in their season and home opener. The Falcons were victorious 79-77.

Sophomore Kaliyah Little recorded a team-high 16 points against the Falcons, and led the Mariners with two assists and three steals.

The Mariners shot 27.5 percent from the field, 18.2 percent from behind the arc, and 71.1 percent from the free-throw line. The Falcons shot 24-17 from the field, 12-33 behind the arc, and 19-20 at the free-throw line.

Throughout the majority of the game, Coastal Georgia and Florida College were evenly matched. The largest lead in the games was the Falcons by seven which occurred with only 31 seconds remaining in the game.

Florida College led the majority of the first quarter while Coastal Georgia led the second. At the half, the score was 37-34 Mariners.

Little was the leading scorer at the half, recording 12 of her 16 points. She was in for all but three min of play in the first half. Porter led the team in rebounds at the half with four, all of them were offensive.

After the third quarter, the teams were tied up 56-56. In the third, the Mariners shot 8-15 from the field and 1-2 from behind the arc. It was by far their most efficient quarter.

Nearing the end of the fourth quarter is when Florida College started to pull away, including extending their lead to seven with just 31 seconds left to play. Despite the game looking nearly impossible to win, made free throws from Little and Ca’Vashia Johnson brought the Mariners within four, and a layup with two seconds left cut the Falcon’s lead to two points.

The Mariners did not have time for another possession and fell 79-77 to the Falcons in their season opener.

Senior Quira Porter added 14 points and freshman Sonia Forney totaled 13 in her Mariner debut. Porter also added a game-high six offensive rebounds.

Freshman Sophia Simmons totaled a team-high seven rebounds including three offensive rebounds in her collegiate debut.

Up next the Mariners face Brewton Parker on the road on Tuesday, Nov. 3.

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TEMPLE TERRACE, Fla. – Southeastern overcame a slow start and some early mistakes to come away with a 71-59 win on the road in the 2020-21 season opener over Florida College.

In the second half, the Fire found another gear, shooting 42.9% from the field, connected on six 3-pointers, and committed just six turnovers.

“The consistency we played with on the defensive end of the floor is what we needed to win this game because the offense really wasn’t there today,” said coach Kevin Lubbers. “We got contributions from a lot of different guys, we rebounded well, but at the end of the day, we got enough stops especially in the last five minutes.”

Sophomore Riley Minix was the main catalyst in the second half. He scored 20 of the team’s 37 points in the second half and finished with a double-double of 26 points and 17 rebounds in 36 minutes of work.

“His work on the glass and his consistency, and he shows up when the moments get big,” Lubbers said. “He hit some big shots and his leadership was key down the stretch.”

With 14:59 to play, the Fire fell behind 42-40, but Minix ended the 7-0 run with a 3-pointer on the next possession to give his team the lead back. The Fire were also down a point at the 11:50 mark, and again on the ensuing possession, Minix connected on a triple to put his team back up.

Ralph Diaz was also a big contributor in the second half, scoring all 11 of his points in the second 20 minutes, and finished with five rebounds, two assists, and a steal off the bench.

“The thing I was most happy about with Ralph today was his defensive effort,” Lubbers said. “He was really focused, locked in, and had some good contests.”

Reggie Mesidor helped the Fire hold a 34-28 halftime lead, scoring 10 of his 12 points in the first half.

The Fire will host Brewton Parker on November 5 for their home opener.

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TEMPLE TERRACE, Fla. – The first game of the 2020-21 season for the Webber International University men’s basketball team resulted in a 92-70 loss for the Warriors on the road at Florida College.

In what was the season opener for both teams, Webber (1-0 overall) came away with points on each of its first nine possessions of the game, starting with a 3-pointer by Kris Goettert on the very first possession of the season. The Warriors would then go on to sink six of their first seven shot attempts.

Unfortunately from there, Webber began to get cold from the field and started turning the ball over in bulk while Florida College (1-0) got hot, particularly from 3-point range.

After a free throw by Eddie Davis put the Warriors ahead 18-14 just over five minutes into the game, that was as good as it would get for the visiting team as Webber proceeded to turn the ball over on six of its next seven possessions while Florida College scored seven straight to kick off a big 19-5 run featuring three 3-pointers to make it a 10-point Falcons’ lead at 33-23 halfway through the first period.

Then, after a midrange jumper by Jaylon Myles made it 33-25, the Falcons responded to go up by 16 at 41-25 after two more 3-ponters. In all, it was a 6-for-11 start from 3-point range for Florida College.

Three straight baskets for Webber got it back down to 10 at 41-31 with around 2:30 left before halftime, but the Falcons hit their seventh three of the opening half to lead it by 15 at 46-31 at the intermission.

In the second half, Webber spent most of its time down by 20-plus points after Florida College scored six straight to open up the half while Webber started the period 2-for-10 from the field and found itself behind 62-35 with 15 minutes left to play.

In the end, Florida College scored 46 points in both halves and had seven 3-pointers in both periods while finishing at exactly 50 percent shooting for the game.

For Webber, Myles finished with 16 points, Goettert had 13, and Davis and George Davey both had 10. Terrance Lakes and Rasheem Etienne both added eight points, Herman Robinson added his second career 3-pointer, and Justin Boyd had a game-high nine rebounds.

Next up for Webber will be two games in back-to-back days in the state of Georgia as the Warriors play at Brewton-Parker College at 5 p.m. on Friday, October 30, followed by a 4 p.m. tipoff at Point University on Saturday, October 31.

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BABSON PARK, Fla. – The Warriors’ quest for a fifth straight win was thwarted by a scrappy Florida College team as in the end, a two-set lead would not be enough for the Webber International University women’s volleyball team in a 3-2 (23-25, 24-26, 25-13, 25-18, 17-15) loss at home on Tuesday night inside the Sabbagh Athletic Center.

After Webber (4-2 overall) won each of the first two sets by the minimum number of two points, Florida College (1-0) responded by hitting .529 percent in a dominating third set, and then hit .344 percent and .300 in the fourth and fifth set, respectively.

Tied 23-23 in the first set, the Warriors went up 1-0 on a Falcons’ service error followed by the first of five service aces on the night by Madelyn Glouner.

Webber then went up 2-0 by winning the second set on back-to-back kills by Sara Weisrock and Swey Brown.

Lastly, after the Warriors led 10-5 in the fifth set thanks to back-to-back aces by Yanileb Figueroa, Florida College scored four straight to get back to within one and then overcame Webber having match point up 14-11 by going on a 6-1 run to win it.

Weisrock led the Warriors in kills with 10 and added three blocks while Nora Burgos-Heredia had nine kills to go along with a 300 attack percentage and five blocks.

Amanda Vega dished out 18 assists and was only one dig shy of a double-double while Camryn Brown had 10 assists and eight digs, and Gabriela Lopez had 19 digs. In fact, five different Warriors finished with eight or more digs as Figueroa added nine and Abbey Darress had eight.

“This was Florida College’s first match of the season, and they did a great job,” said Webber’s Head Coach Gretchen Hand. “We definitely felt the loss of Svenja Koenig and Kiersten Tisdale tonight, but we look forward to having them back for our next match on Saturday. We have to take care of our side, and when we do that, we win.”

The Webber women’s volleyball team will return to Sun Conference action this Saturday on September 26 as the Warriors travel to Miami Gardens, Florida, to play St. Thomas Universit

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TEMPLE TERRACE, Fla. – Sean McConnaughy has been chosen as the new head men’s soccer coach at Florida College.

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