The Orange City University Titans women’s varsity volleyball team beat the Apopka Blue Darters 3–1 Tuesday in a tight four-set match (29–27, 22–25, 23–25, 24–26) in front of a packed and energized Apopka crowd. 

The season opener began with the Blue Darters’ JV team claiming a 3–1 win, which set the tone inside the gym. That energy carried into the varsity opener. 

In the first set, Apopka weathered University’s early push, leaning on senior middle hitter Daylen Hilliman and sophomore outside hitter Marie Hughes to spark the attack. 

Hilliman tallied four kills in the opener and made her presence felt at the net, while Hughes matched her power from the outside. Setter Taylor Cain spread the floor well, notching six points and 11 assists in the opening frame.

The set itself was a marathon. Neither side gave an inch, trading points past the 25 mark until Apopka finally sealed a 29–27 win. The set had the Blue Darters’ bench and home crowd roaring.

The Titans responded like a seasoned team. Behind the playmaking of setter Emma Atkinson and the power of outside hitter Alyssa Reedy, University swung momentum in the second set. 

Atkinson repeatedly put her hitters in position, the main one being Reedy, who powered through Apopka’s block for kill after kill. Though Apopka again led the second set early, errors began to be the issue. A string of missed serves, net violations, and miscommunication on free balls let University creep back in. 

The Titans finished strong, taking the second set 25–22.

Assistant coach Sarah Egbers said she was satisfied with how the team pushed through the long games together.

“I think we started off strong,” Egbers said. “The team that we have been doing everything that we’ve been practicing. Towards the end there, we lost it a little bit, but we kind of found our fight, and we made sure we pushed and played as a team, and we didn’t let our mistakes prior get to us at the end.”

Head coach Brian Mater agreed and believes the players lost track of themselves as the match went on.

“I think each player understood their job, and then after that, it kind of went down,” Mater said. “They were kind of running around, wondering where they needed to play next, and it wore us down a little bit.”

The third set followed a similar pattern. Cain continued to direct traffic and added to her assist total, while Hughes turned in her best stretch of the night with several key kills. 

Middle hitter Madeline Sherrer also stepped up, hammering down points in the middle to keep Apopka close. 

Still, the Titans’ senior depth showed strong. Outside hitter Joslean Garcia dug up tough shots and sparked rallies, while middle blocker Paige Partin served a couple late aces, giving the Titans the edge in a 25–23 win.

By the fourth set, fatigue and errors began to weigh on Apopka. They tallied a total of 36 errors by the end of the match. Hilliman still found success, finishing with eight blocks and eight kills, while Brianna Young chipped in 11 kills. 

Cain closed the night with 28 assists, and her main connection with Hughes led to 10 total kills for the sophomore. 

But each time the Blue Darters seemed ready to force a decisive fifth set, Reedy answered with a kill. University edged out the final set, 26–24.

Apopka’s coaches said they feel there is a good amount to build on from this first game and the team is ready for the task at hand.

“We definitely need to continue to work on communication and staying on our toes rather than our heels,” Egbers said. “When we are in those tight situations, we need to be keeping the ball in play rather than trying to make the kill. Placing the ball, I would say, deep corners or just keeping it in play because when we try to get the point is when we make that error… if we can try to just let them make the error or at least reset, regroup, and then hit, that’s where I think we could be a little bit more successful.”

Mater said he loves the way his team meshes, but they must limit the errors. 

“With our stats, you know, we’re showing a lot of errors,” he said. “That’s the big thing that we’ve seen… We missed a lot of serves, and we were in the net quite a bit, so I think we need to work on cleaning up our errors and communication again.”

Mater also talked about the exhilaration of opening the season at home.

“It’s the first night of the season. I think we’ve got the jitters out now, everybody’s wanting to play,” Mater said. “The crowd was great, it was great energy at the home court. That was something we haven’t seen for a while, so it was pretty good to see that.”

Though the final score didn’t fall their way, the Blue Darters left the court with confidence that the foundation is there. 

Apopka will head out on the road to meet the Dr. Phillips Panthers at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in Orlando.