Point Park volleyball increased its record to 11-13 after a trip to Florida this past week.

“The only challenge we faced this weekend was playing three tough matches in a row,” said junior Shiloh Simonson. “The games were all best of five and there was hardly any time to recover between matches so that was probably the most difficult thing.”

Point Park played St. Thomas University on Wednesday in its first game. St Thomas won 3-0 with scores of 25-18, 25-12 and 25-11.

Senior Emily Meng thinks the team had to overcome the excitement of being in Florida, but the team has traveled before and knew what to expect.

“I think the day starting out so early and it being a long day had some impact on it [the loss],” said Meng. “But I don’t think it was the biggest reason for the loss.”

The Pioneers held their own in the first set up until the score of 16-16, but St. Thomas fought hard to nine more points, only giving two to Point Park. Simonson agreed with Meng, saying there were other components that led to the team’s loss.

“We had a long day traveling and were running on only a few hours of sleep when we played St. Thomas,” Simonson said. “But I wouldn’t blame our loss completely on that.”

Junior Megan Branchick led the team’s offense, obtaining seven kills with help from five kills from outside hitter Simonson. Leading defense was senior outside hitter Isabella Vavrek making seven digs.

Branchick believes being apart of Point Park’s volleyball team has taught her how to communicate for success.

“Coach Bruno has set a good example how to problem solve and use teamwork,” Branchick explained.

The Pioneers competed in the Keiser University Challenge on Saturday, bringing home two wins and one loss. The Pioneers played Trinity College, Florida College and challenging team, Keiser University.

The start of the challenge for the Pioneers began with Trinity College, with scores of 25-22, 25-17 and 25-15, giving Point Park a 3-0 win. Branchick had nine kills, with support from middle hitter Nikki Inquartano’s seven kills and three blocks. Simonson and senior Cristiane Chaves added six and five kills respectively.

“We had three games in one day on Saturday. Since the team is so small it’s difficult to play that much with no bench,” Branchick said about the challenge.

“But overall, we had a successful day.”

The Pioneers’ next game was a 3-1 against Keiser University with scores of 25-17, 22-25, 25-19 and 25-20. Vavrek had 10 kills and nine digs, aided by Simonson’s 14 digs, Paige Baker’s 12 digs and Morgan Dangelo’s eight. Junior Madison Weldon and Meng gave the team 22 and 16 assists respectively to give a team effort win for Point Park.

“I have learned if there isn’t trust or open communication there is no team,” Meng said. “I think it’s amazing being on a team because it sets you up for adversity that you could face in the future.”

The final match of the challenge was a loss for the Pioneers, who almost went away with all three matches won. The game against Florida College was lost 3-2 with scores of 23-25, 25-12, 25-22, 23-25 and 17-15.

Point Park fought hard with a total of 90 digs from the team. Baker and Dangelo led the team with 22 and 15 digs respectively. Branchick came away with 16 kills and Simonson helped with 15 kills and 19 digs.

Simonson explained the two key components for a successful team.

“I’ve learned that teamwork is based on trust and chemistry,” Simonson said. “Connection to your teammates is the most important thing”

Point Park volleyball’s next game is at home against fellow Kentucky Intercollegiate Atlantic Conference team West Virginia Tech on Tue., Oct. 13.

“They’re a conference team so we really need to get this win,” Branchick said. “Our main goal is to improve our floor defense and keep the ball off the ground.”