By Marty Camacho

The Women’s Volleyball team secured their berth for Nationals after a brilliant performance in the Sun-Lakes Conference tournament held at PSC’s Hartsell Arena.

The Pirates, who earned a first-round bye after finishing the season as the no. 2 seed, swept St. Petersburg College in three dominant sets in the semi-finals, before riding the momentum with a 3-1 win against Gulf Coast State College in the finals. The Pirates lost a tightly contested third set, which ended 30-28 in favor of St. Petersburg, and wrapped things up in the following set with a dominant 25-10 performance to secure the South Atlantic District Championship.

This marks the second consecutive year that Gulf Coast State and Pensacola State met in the finals of the Sun-Lakes Conference, and also the second successive year that the Pirates triumphed in the South Atlantic District.

The Pirates have been strong performers the whole season. At the conclusion of the tournament, four Pirates players were named to the All-Tournament team—Maddie Mire, Riley Carter, Maddie Godwin, and Catie Woolf. Mire also received the Most Outstanding Player award, while head coach, Patricia Gandolfo, received the Kim Whitney Award for Coach of the Year.

The Pirates look to carry the dominance and momentum into the nationals, to be held in Iowa from November 20 to 23.