(Bronx, NY) The second day had a strong kick off at the Monroe College Tournament in the Bronx. The first opponent facing the FIT Tigers was the host team, Monroe College. No pressure, of course.

In the first set the Tigers were highly motivated, as they knew Monroe had the home court advantage, and they were not about to let anyone stomp on their ground. They played well the first couple of points, but after a few unfavorable calls, the Tigers lost their rhythm, and dropped the first set, losing (25,14). 

Moving forward FIT was unable to make a come back in the second set, and they suffered from a few serving and receiving errors. They fell (25,17). Going into the third set, the Tigers knew they had to pull it together or else they were going to be in trouble, with a capital T. Poor offense and incredible defense on the Monroe side of the net, handicapped FIT and Monroe took the final set, winning (25,14). Hannah Edwards lead the team with 12 digs in the final set.

After a tough loss against Monroe, FIT sucked it up and got back on the saddle. Harcum Community College was the next victim. Superb passing, blocking, and consistent serving gave the Tigers wins for the first two sets, (25,16) and (25,12). 

The Tigers needed to win one more game to close them down, but a loss in the third game, lead to a fourth game, which also resulted in a loss, leading to a necessary fifth match. The final scores were (25,14) and (25,22). The much anticipated fifth and deciding set was very suspenseful. A few great saves and some excellent digs, resulted in taking the win, (15:13). This also lead them to overall win in the match against Harcum Community College! 

Head Coach Danial Levent stated, "the Tigers showed great persistence in that fifth set. They were tired, and have been through a lot in the past two days. So I was proud of how we sealed the deal on that fifth set. Of course, we couldn't have done it without, Stephanie Perpepaj, who recorded 21 digs for this game."

Overall, the Tigers finished with a record of 3:1 at the Monroe College Tournament. The loss against Monroe, was not a total loss because the Tigers certainly learned from the experience and their own mistakes. It is back to the drawing board for these Tigers to see where and how they can improve for their next match on Thursday, October 1st, at Kingsborough College. Until then Tigers!