TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (November 6, 2022) - Three Region 8 schools advanced to NJCAA Tournaments by virtue of claiming a District Championship in their respective sport.
Miami Dade College won the Division I Southeast District B Championship in volleyball, Polk State College claimed the Division I South Atlantic District Championship in women's soccer and Daytona State College advances to nationals as the Division I Southeast District Champion in men's soccer.
Volleyball
Miami Dade, after falling in straight sets to Florida SouthWestern State College in Saturday's FCSAA/NJCAA Southeast District A Championship Match, rebounded and claimed a straight-set win over Spartanburg (S.C.) Methodist College in Sunday's Southeast District B title tilt.
The Sharks found themselves in unfamiliar territory, having won the previous six FCSAA Championships, but Miami Dade knew it had two potential opportunities to claim a bid to the national tournament.
When FSW claimed its first FCSAA Championship on Saturday, the Sharks turned their attention to Sunday's match and a second opportunity.
Spartanburg Methodist, the Region 10 Champions, was making its second straight trip the Sunshine State for the Southeast District B Championship match. Last year, the Pioneers lost to Polk State.
The Sharks got off to a bit of a slow start, falling behind 2-0 and 4-2 in the first set before finally putting away Spartanburg Methodist, 25-19. From there, it was all Miami Dade, as it won the next two sets easily, 25-11 and 25-12.
With the win, Miami Dade joins Florida SouthWestern in the field of automatic qualifiers for the NJCAA Tournament in West Plains, Mo.
Women's Soccer
Polk State College contributed to this release.
Polk State defeated Spartanburg Methodist, 13-1, to win the South Atlantic District Championship and qualify for the NJCAA Tournament for the first time since 2009.
The Pioneers found the net in the eighth minute to open the scoring, but the next 13 goals belonged to Polk State. After Lovelie Pierre evened the match, Rachelle Caremus put the Eagles ahead for good. By halftime, the lead had grown to 7-1.
Raisa Lugo finished with two goals and two assists to help No. 9 Polk State (17-1) build the early lead. Celine Ottah added four assists in the victory. Yerika Pereira, Kayla Banks and Jillian Johnson also scored first-half goals. Johnson added an assist.
The second half was the Edjenie Joseph show. Joseph tallied a hat trick in the second half. Also scoring over the second session were Caremus, Pereira and Melissa Del Valle. Lohrane Boaventura recorded two assists in the second half while Meg Shivraman added one of her own.
The Eagles dominated with 19 shots on goal to just two for Spartanburg Methodist.
The NJCAA Tournament will take place in Evans, Ga.
Men's Soccer
Daytona State College contributed to this release.
No. 3 Daytona State rallied for a dramatic 2-1 win over host Richard Bland (Va.) College, to win its third straight Southeast District Championship and advance to the NJCAA Tournament, which will take just down I-95 in Melbourne, Fla.
Richard Bland took a 1-0 lead with a goal in the 23rd minute. A corner kick, that the Falcons were not able to clear from danger, bounced inside the 18-yard box and struck the back of the net. Both teams recorded four shots in the first half along with two saves for both goalkeepers.
In the second half, the Falcons slowly built momentum, recording 13 shot attempts while holding the Statesmen to only one over the final 45 minutes. Still, the Falcons trailed 1-0 as the final minutes began to tick away.
Then, in the 88th minute, the Falcons found the back of the net for the first time. Damian Rogers crossed the ball into the back post, where sophomore forward Christian Cordeiro was waiting wide open to head the ball into the back of the net to tie the game.
Just 30 seconds later, and with only 30 seconds remaining on the clock, the Falcons were fouled on their half of the field. Will Diaz sent a long ball into the Statesmen's box finding Sam Nicholson, who headed the ball down into Carlos Zambrano's path, who then volleyed it, finding the top right corner of the Statesmen goal.