LAKELAND, Fla - The New College women's volleyball team drops their second conference game of the season on the road against Southeastern University. 

After a dominant conference performance against the Ave Maria Gyrenes, the Banyans take their first Sun Conference loss of the season in a 3-1 series finish. 

New College got off to a hot start in the opening set, putting their opponents in a 4-0 hole to start the day. The Fire fought back, however, with the two teams exchanging blows in a tight contest before the Banyans ultimately dropped the first set 25-21.

The second set saw a similar trend, only this time it was the Fire that got started early, as they went on an eight point run to make the score 17-9. The Banyans would not go down easy though, as they fought back to get within five before the Fire separated once again closing out the second set with a final score of 25-19.

Down two sets, the Banyans found some offensive rhythm to propel them to a big set three lead. After scoring five straight points to go up 20-14, the Fire mounted a counter attack to push them back into the contest, narrowing the Banyan lead to 22-20. The Banyans finished the set strong with a 25-20 score, making the series 2-1.

In the fourth set of the game, the Fire went up early, outscoring the Banyans 5-0. The Banyans made several valiant attempts to dig themselves out of the hole, but the Fire defense refused to let go of the lead. The final set of the game ended with a 25-18 Fire victory.

Anne Downs led the Banyans in kills with 10, behind her was Jayleen Santiago with eight. Luisa Hoffman had six block assists. The Banyans struggled with self inflicted wounds, as the young team recorded seven block errors to Southeastern's five and nine reception errors against the Fire's four.

The Banyans will head back home on Saturday September 14th to play Florida Memorial University.