WINTER HAVEN -- Polk State Volleyball officially has the rest of the Citrus Conference's attention. The Eagles put together their most impressive performance of the year on Wednesday night, downing No. 17 Eastern Florida State College, 3-2.

Polk State (6-9, 1-4 Citrus) took the final set to stun the Titans in front of a raucous crowd decked in pink. For its annual "Dig Pink" match, which aims to raise awareness for breast cancer, the Eagles put on a show, winning in five sets, 25-18, 22-25, 25-22, 21-25 and 15-11.

Service aces by Alexia Ortiz and Marina Santos helped set a strong tone in the opening set as the Eagles raced to a 7-4 lead. Eastern Florida was able to get back into it but the latter parts of the set was all Polk State. Sarah Boe Soerenson clinched the victory with a kill that split Eastern players.

The next three sets were competitive with Eastern Florida State taking two of them. In the fifth set, things went back and forth early on but Polk State finished strong.

As she had all night, Ortiz came up huge. Polk State closed on a 5-0 run; Ortiz recorded four kills and an ace during that stretch.

With the win, Polk State snapped a 16-match losing streak to Citrus Conference foes. The win is the first for the Eagles over a nationally ranked team since 2023. The win comes just days after Eastern Florida became the first team to take a set from No. 1 Florida SouthWestern State College as the Titans dropped a 3-2 heartbreaker on Saturday.

"I'm so happy for how the ladies have stuck together, continued to work and believed in themselves," Head Coach Jessica Beal said. "This was a great overall team performance."

Ortiz led the Eagles with 16 kills and four aces. Santos added 15 kills, 12 digs and six total blocks. Isabella Ramos led Polk State with 17 digs.

Soerenson recorded the second double-double of her career with 11 kills and 14 digs. Camila Freitag and Ella Langstrom each added four total blocks. 

Wednesday's top-20 victory was the first of six straight Citrus Conference home matches for the Eagles. They'll host Santa Fe College on Saturday at 2 p.m.