(New York, NY) The Tigers stepped onto the court for the first round of playoffs on Thursday night, taking the home court advantage, and officially ready to rumble! They took on Westchester Community College. The Tigers were confident as they took down Westchester earlier in the season winning 3-0. The Tigers needed this win to move onto the Regional Semi-Finals in Marbletown, NY. Every Tiger on the team knew what they had to do, and they were ready to get this party started.

FIT started out very solid in first set. They had a good energy and positive vibes flowing over the court in the Main Gym. They kept up their perfect passes, and nail driving hits to collect a win for the first set of (25:18). 

The Tigers kept on the pressure in the second set. They pushed the offense and took the lead early on. There were a few good vollies back and forth between FIT & Westchester. Westchester knew if they lost the second match, their fate would also be written in stone. They were determined, but the communication for FIT was so on point on that they took the second set (25:15). 

Leading into the third set, the Tigers stumbled slightly and lost a little bit of focus, giving Westchester exactly the break they had been hoping for. The set was a serious nail biter. You could hear a pin drop the fans and athletes were so focused. But as we all know, the Tigers don't just go down without a fight. They rallied with aggressive hits, and an excellent defense helped them seal the deal winning (25:23)! Also sealing their destiny of moving on to the Semi-Finals! That a way Tigers!

All-Stars for this week were Jenna Dickey who tallied 10 kills, followed by Julia Corbett and Darena Relyea both recording 9 kills each. 

Coach Danial Levent commented after the third set, "We were all on the edges of our seats. We need to be sure we close each and every match from here on out. There are no second chances in the playoffs."

The Tigers will play in the Semi-Finals on Saturday, October 31st. Let's all cheer them on to victory in hopes of moving on to Nationals in November!