College Volleyball: Pensacola State preps for first national tournament in program history

A memorable season rich with victories has turned into a historic one for the Pensacola State College women's volleyball team.

After ripping through the regular season, conference play and the state tournament, the Pirates have reached Nationals for the first time in their program's history.

Yet, the team took a brief moment to soak in that noteworthy achievement, each player has made it point to not be satisfied with just tasting the big stage. They each want to do some damage.

PSC is set to face Iowa Central Community College at 1 p.m. Wednesday in a second-round match of the NJCAA Division II Volleyball Championships from the Alliant Energy Powerhouse in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

“Yeah, we won the state tournament, but we have other goals as well," PSC sophomore setter Kiara Vega said. "So we have to stay locked in until we're officially done with our season.”

College Volleyball: With Nationals in mind, Pensacola State maintains dazzling form

Early National Signing Day: Pensacola-area athletes make their college plans official

The Pirates, who earned an automatic-bid by winning the Region VIII title, are seeded 12th out of 20 teams, while the fifth-seeded Tritons advanced by winning their fourth-straight Region XI crown.

Both teams enters the national tournament with 31 wins this season. Pensacola State has suffered three losses while Iowa Central has gone down on five occasions. However, the Tritons ended the regular season as the higher-ranked team, finishing ninth in the final poll to the Pirates' 14th.

Iowa Central is led by outside hitter Noêmia Chiacchio and setter Mercedes Madlock. Chiachhio is 10th in the nation with 478 kills while Madlock is seventh in the country with 1,280 assists. Each will present major challenges, but for Pensacola State College head coach Patricia Gandolfo, much of the game plan will be about her team's own execution.

"(Iowa Central) is a heck of a team," said Gandolfo, who was named the FCSAA DII NJCAA South Atlantic District's Coach of the Year. "There's a reason only the top 20 teams go to the national tournament and you can't overlook anybody that's at the top.

"We've done our homework on them. But there are certain things that I believe we got to get better at as being us."

Pensacola State's blistering 2023 campaign

As much as it needs to play better, PSC and the level of volleyball it has put on the floor has been superb thus far.

The Pirates enjoyed a 19-match winning streak from Aug. 26 until a three-set loss to Gulf Coast State College on Oct. 18 at home. Although the team would lose one more time in before the postseason, Pensacola State has regained it's form.

"It feels pretty nice to be honest, but I felt pretty confident the whole season," Vega said. "Every single time we come into practice, we work hard. Every game, we learn something new about our team and what we can do whenever we're together."

PSC has won its last five matches via sweep, which includes avenging its defeat to Gulf Coast State in the Sun-Lakes Conference Championship on Nov. 4.

"We had so much grit going into that game," Pirates freshman libero Maddie Mire said. "Beating them brought so much joy to our team, and so much happiness because we were the first team to make it to Nationals. I think it was just a really fun time for everybody."

Mire was one of three PSC players named to the Sun-Lakes All-Tournament team, along with Vega and Milton High grad Anyaliz Rodriguez. Vega was named to the Region VIII Player of the Year while Rodriguez was selected as the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

Yet, the team's run to this point hasn't just been predicated on the performance of a select few.

Collecting a team-high 16 kills to fuel the Pirates to a semifinal victory over Pasco-Hernando State, freshman outside hitter Cadence Goeden is second on the team in that category (293). Elsewhere, freshman middle hitter Riley Carter and sophomore middle hitter Paige Patterson top PSC in total blocks with 87 and 72, respectively.

"We don't have one player that has been the only star of the team," Gandolfo said. "This group of young ladies is very special because they see who is the hot hand right now and then they just ride her way. So we don't have only one weapon. When we walk on the court, everybody at any given point can be the main go-to person."

'They're so passionate about their work'

Celebration of the Pensacola State's first-ever trip to Nationals went on for the entire weekend.

But as soon as the following week began arrived, the team went back into "grind mode" as Gandolfo calls it.

"We all celebrated and we were all getting the pictures back, reliving the moment. And then whenever it came time for practice, I think we all started to lock in because it's time to focus on our next goal," Mire said. "That's the next thing that we need to accomplish."

PSC practiced during the week, as well as practices on Saturday and Sunday before traveling to Iowa on Monday.

Once Wednesday arrives, the intensity will be ratcheted up even further on the national stage. But even as Pensacola State seeks a championship, Gandolfo still wants her players to compete with as much, if not, more jubilation as fire.

"From a coaching standpoint, I don't want to take the joy away from them as a heck of a team as we put them right back on track in grind mode," Gandolfo said. "So it's a funny balance. This is go-time, but we are still enjoying the passion. They play so well because they're so passionate about this work."

Patrick Bernadeau is a sports reporter for the Pensacola News Journal. He can be reached at (772) 985-9692, on X at @PatBernadeau or via email at pbernadeau@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: College Volleyball: Pensacola State set to face Iowa Central at Nationals