TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (November 21, 2021) - Another successful season of NJCAA Volleyball for Region 8 came to a close over the weekend.
Four schools advanced to national tournaments in Hutchinson, Kan., (DI) - Florida SouthWestern State College, Miami Dade College and Polk State College - and Cedar Rapids, Iowa (DII) - Lake-Sumter State College.
Division I Recap
In Kansas, No. 3 seed Miami Dade and No. 4 Florida SouthWestern finally crossed paths in the 2021 postseason.
The teams were favored to meet for the FCSAA State/NJCAA Southeast District Championship earlier this month, but the upset bug bit the Bucs. Miami Dade eventually won the tournament by defeating Polk State and, along with Florida SouthWestern, the trio advanced to Kansas.
Both Miami Dade and Florida SouthWestern cruised to straight-set wins in the opening round over Monroe (N.Y.) College and Jefferson (Mo.) College, respectively. The second round, however, tripped up both squads.
Miami Dade was knocked off in four sets by No. 6 New Mexico Military Institute while No. 5 Missouri State-West Plains took a 3-0 win over Florida SouthWestern.
With fifth place the new goal, both squads got off the deck and won its next match, including Florida SouthWestern's five-setter over the tournament's No. 1 seed, Blinn (Texas) College.
Finally, in the Fifth Place Match, Florida SouthWestern showed why they were the nation's number one team for the final seven weeks of the regular season, handing the Sharks a 3-0 defeat.
Polk State, meanwhile, received the No. 9 seed, and dropped its opening round match to eventual national champion Iowa Western Community College, who was seeded eighth.
After a win over Hill (Texas) College in consolation bracket play, the Eagles were knocked out by Central Wyoming Community College in four sets.
Florida SouthWestern's Barbara Koehlera and Miami Dade's Romina Cornelio were named to the All-Tournament Team.
Division II Recap
Rock'em, Sock'em, LakeHawk'em. That was the goal for Lake-Sumter State College, who was making its second national tournament appearance.
Coming out of Region 8 as the Gulf District Champions, Lake-Sumter State had already made a statement by knocking off nationally-ranked St. Johns River State College in the district final.
Seeded 11th, the LakeHawks drew sixth-seed Terra (Ohio) State Community College in the opening round.
Lake-Sumter State took the first set and led two sets to one, but the Titans wouldn't go away. They won the fourth set then took the decisive fifth set, 15-6.
Now in the Consolation Bracket, Lake-Sumter State beat Richard Bland (Va.) Community College in three sets, a win that made Amanda Phelps the winningest head coach in school history with her 67th victory.
The LakeHawks' season ended the following day with a 3-1 loss to Scottsdale (Ariz.) Community College.