MELBOURNE, Fla. (Volleyball) – In the second day of volleyball action at the West Florida Comfort Inn-vitational Saturday, Florida Tech faced a pair of tough teams, falling 3-0 to North Alabama (25-19, 25-21, 25-23) and 3-1 against the University of Missouri-St. Louis (25-18, 25-19, 22-25, 25-15).

The first contest of the day was perhaps the most evenly matched of the tournament, despite the 3-0 loss for Tech. The Panthers played well, most notably at the net with 10 blocks in three sets to UNA’s five. Alexis Mastela, who had 26 assists in the match, passed the ball around evenly while Ashley Bryant scooped up 20 digs in the effort.

A whopping 17 ties and seven lead changes kept the match close throughout. Though the Panthers got off to a slow start in set one, they came back to tie things up at 9-all, largely off the serve of Bryant. However, the Lions were able to hang on without surrendering the lead and pulled off the 25-19 win.

Set two was a different story as the serve of Mastela fueled an early run to take a 7-3 lead, but the Lions bounced back to go ahead 12-11 on a service ace from Natalie Marsh. The Panthers weren’t done yet though, challenging UNA to make it a 19-19 affair. But a four-point run by the Lions all but secured the 2-0 lead in the match.

The third and final set was tight all the way and it wasn’t until late in the game that Tech would make its move. A timely block at the net by the tandem of Caitlyn Ballweber and Janelle Branch gave the Panthers a 23-22 edge and the momentum as it was the fifth consecutive point off the serve of newcomer Kaitlin Brennan. However, the Lions recorded three straight kills to wrap up the set and earn the 3-0 victory.­

Facing a 2-0 deficit in match number two, the Panthers battled their way back to claim set three 25-22, sparked by the team’s play at the net and good serving by Brittany Ferry down the home stretch to gain a 23-17 lead. Set four, however, was dominated by Tritons who pulled away late and cruised to a 25-15 win to secure the match victory.

The Panthers now look ahead and prepare for the Armstrong Atlantic Tournament Sept. 10-11 where Tech will face three new teams along with Alabama-Huntsville once again after defeating the Chargers 3-0 on Friday.