PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WMBB) — The Gulf Coast volleyball team is headed to national competition in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
The Commodores earned an at-large bid and are seeded 13 in the NJCAA tournament after falling to Pensacola State in the State final match.
“When we lost to Pensacola, we had the feeling that it’s not over yet,” Gulf Coast sophomore defensive specialist Izzy Denton said. “We’re going to play with a chip on our shoulder. We’re going to go in fighting.”
The ‘Dores are using their most recent loss as motivation in their final tournament.
“We’re going to show up and fight extra hard since we got the bid instead of winning the state championship,” Gulf Coast freshman outside hitter Claire Warner said. “We are the underdogs and we’re not going to roll over.”
Gulf Coast started the season playing in Iowa against some of the top teams in the nation. The ‘Dores hope they can finish the season with the same success they started with.
“It was exciting to go down and just compete and get a little glimpse of the progress we’ve made throughout the season,” Gulf Coast freshman outside hitter Kendra Nachtrieb said. “Now we’re going to play the top 20 teams, so it’s really exciting.”
The Commodores will play 20 seed Sauk Valley on Wednesday, November 15 in the opening round.
