“I just came in hungry and ready to win, but not overly chaotic,” Rollins women’s volleyball middle blocker Makayla Moran (‘26) said. “Really trying to get a win, just hungry to play them again and looking at it as an opportunity.”
With four kills and two solo blocks, Moran was a key contributor to the Tars offense and defense in their match versus the Florida Tech Panthers on Oct. 21, where the Panthers won 3-0. Rollins previously faced Florida Tech on Sept. 27 and lost 3-2.
The match started off with Florida Tech gaining a 7-2 lead. Rollins worked to close the gap, but Florida Tech continued to hold their lead and took the first set 25-22 with 15 kills.
“Playing them again, we prepared more for their players who are getting the most kills offensively,” Moran said. “We did a lot more in practice trying to defend that, and we really worked on our blocking.”
Florida Tech began the second set with a 9-3 lead. The Tars fought offensively with four kills from Rylee Yarborough (‘29), three from Willow Barron (‘28), and two kills each from Cameron Grange (‘27), Marta Tsaneva (‘26), and Moran. Although the Tars had 15 kills in the second set, the Panthers stayed ahead until the end, winning 25-23.
“In the beginning of the first two sets, we started slow … so in the end, we had to compensate for what we had done,” Moran said. “We stayed really aggressive, but I think we put too much pressure on ourselves … so we felt like we had something to come back from.”
Going into the final set, the Panthers had a 2-0 set lead, with the third set being the tightest of the night. The set had eight tied scores and five lead changes as the Tars battled to try to get a win under their belt. Florida Tech finished the set 26-24 and beat the Tars in a three-set sweep with 12 kills in the final set, while the Tars had 10. Five of the Tars’ kills were from Grange, followed by two each from Tsaneva and Yarborough, and one from Moran.
After the match, the Tars’ record was 13-9 overall and 2-7 in conference play. With a loss on the road to Palm Beach Atlantic University on Oct. 24 and a win versus Nova Southeastern University on Oct. 25, the Tars are currently 14-10 overall and 3-8 in conference.
“In the next match, it’s about starting strong. Just going out with everything I have from the first set,” Moran said. “I know there’s three sets to win, but I think we need the mentality of focusing on the first point and the first set because it sets the tone for the rest of the game.”
Continuing their conference play, Rollins will face off against #3 Lynn University on Oct. 31 and #2 Barry University on Nov. 1. Both matches will be livestreamed.
“I am really, really excited for senior night (Nov. 22), but also, I’m excited to play Barry again,” Moran said. “I think they’re a really, really good team, so it’s just always a fun opportunity.”
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