WEEKLY SCHEDULE

Monday, Oct. 19 at 4 p.m.: No. 5 Miami Dade College (9-2-1, 4-0-1 FCSAA)  at No. 20 Polk State College (5-4-2, 1-3-1 FCSAA)

Thursday, Oct. 22 at 5 p.m. or 8 p.m.: No. 20 Polk State vs. No. 5 Miami Dade College or No. 7 Daytona State College (11-2-1, 3-2-1 FCSAA) – FCSAA Tournament semifinal; Melbourne, Fla.

PREVIEW

• Polk State entered the NJCAA Poll last week at No. 20. It marked the first time the Eagles have been nationally ranked since 2022.

• Polk State celebrated Sophomore Day on Saturday with a special ceremony on the Lakeland Campus. Twelves sophomores were recognized.

• Polk State wraps up the regular season on Monday against FCSAA regular season champion Miami Dade College. If the Eagles win or draw, they will be the No. 3 seed in the FCSAA Tournament and take on No. 2 seed Daytona State College in the FCSAA Tournament semifinals on Thursday. If Polk State loses, it will be the No. 4 seed and face top-seeded Miami Dade in a rematch on Thursday. The Sharks won 5-0 in the first meeting between the schools on Sept. 11.

• With 40 shots on the season, Polk State's Jaycie Noble ranks fifth in the FCSAA in that category. Noble ranks eighth in the FCSAA in points (15) and fifth in goals (7). 

• Miami Dade goalkeeper Julia Suelly leads the FCSAA with an .860 save percentage. She also ranks third with 43 saves on the year. Polk State's Sofia Zapata, coming off an eight-save effort, ranks second in the FCSAA with 46 saves.

WEEKLY SCHEDULE

Friday, Oct. 23 at 6 p.m.: Polk State College (1-20, 1-9 Citrus Conference) at Eastern Florida State College (12-15, 5-5 Citrus Conference) – FCSAA Tournament quarterfinal

PREVIEW

• Polk State will be the No. 6 seed in the FCSAA Tournament for the second year in a row. The Eagles will travel to face No. 3 seed Eastern Florida State College in Melbourne – the site of Polk State's 3-2 win last week. The last FCSAA Tournament meeting between the teams came in 2023 – a 3-0 Polk State victory in Fort Myers.

• The 3-2 win last week over the Titans marked the second straight year that Polk State defeated Eastern Florida in five sets for its first Citrus Conference win. The Eagles won last season in Winter Haven for its annual “Dig Pink” match. Last week, Adriauna Combs and Camilla Freitag each finished with 12 kills to lead Polk State.

• Freshman Victoria Benitez has taken on a bigger role of late for the Eagles. In last week's win over Eastern Florida State, she set season-highs with 17 assists and six service aces. Benitez followed that up with an eight-assist, two-ace performance in Saturday's 3-0 loss to Santa Fe College.

• Polk State's Ana Martinez continues to rank among the FCSAA leaders in digs per set, averaging 3.56. She has recorded in double-digit digs in each of her last four matches.

• Eastern Florida State's Jada Zimmerman ranks fourth in the FCSAA and leads the Titans by averaging 2.6 kills per set. She finished with 12 kills and eight digs in last week's loss to the Eagles.