ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – The Purdue Northwest volleyball team wrapped up play at the Flagler Invitational in St. Augustine, Fla., Saturday afternoon, falling to Florida Tech and Shippensburg, 3-0, 3-0.

MATCH 1:  Florida Tech 3, PNW 0

Florida Tech went ahead early in the opening set taking a 9-6 lead, but the Black and Gold evened the score at 10-10 thanks to a kill from Gabrielle Martin (DeMotte, Ind./Kankakee Valley).

The Pride regained the lead shortly after, with a kill from Hannah Thomas (Frankton, Ind./Frankton) followed by a service ace by Eudora Negri (Munster, Ind./Munster) which gave PNW the 13-11 advantage.

Florida Tech eventually regained the lead and held on to it for the remainder of the set, winning 25-19 to take a 1-0 lead.  The Panthers took the second set, 25-18, and used that momentum to take an early 12-4 advantage in the third set.

Purdue Northwest continued to fight and evened the score at 13-13, thanks to an impressive run of three consecutive service aces by Carissa Jones (Whiting, Ind./Bishop Noll).  Florida Tech regained the lead at 17-15, but back-to-back kills by Martin tied the set at 17-17.  The Panthers eventually went on to take the set 25-19 to capture the three-set win.

Kayla Elsea (Palmyra, Ind./Crawford County) led the Pride with seven kills and a .400 attack percentage, while Morgan Spencer (Oswego, Ill./Aurora Central Catholic) finished the match with five kills.

MATCH 2:  Shippensburg 3, PNW 0

Shippensburg started off the opening set hot, jumping out on a big run before taking the first set 25-13.  PNW bounced back nicely to start the second set, taking a 6-4 lead after back-to-back kills from Spencer and Brooke Carter (Chicago, Ill./King College Prep). 

Brooke Ahrens (Covington, Ind./Covington) recorded a kill to give the Black and Gold a 10-9 advantage, but  the Raiders answered back and took a 16-12 lead midway through the set, before holding on to the lead en route to the set 2 win, 25-18.

The Pride started off the third set with an 8-3 advantage, thanks to a pair of kills from Elsea and Jenna Pasko (Lansing, Ill./T.F. South).  However, the Raiders answered back and evened the score at 11-11, before taking a 16-14 lead.  Shippensburg held on to win the set and picked up the 3-0 win.  Martin led the Pride with 11 kills and 10 digs, while Ahrens finished with 20 assists and five digs.

PNW returns to action on Wednesday, Sept. 6, when they face off with Indiana-Kokomo in its first home match of the season.  The match is scheduled for a 6 pm (CT) start at H.D. Kesling Gymnasium at the James B. Dworkin Student Services & Activities Complex in Westville.