By Eric Eversley, Staff Writer

Armstrong seniors Stephanie Sfara and Taylor Permenter, have been named to the 2014 Preseason All-Peach Belt Conference volleyball team which is voted on by conference officials.

The defending PBC tournament and regular season champions were the only team to have multiple players on the seven woman roster that was released by league officials on August 22nd.

Sfara, of Boardman, Ohio, was the 2013 PBC Tournament Most Valuable Player as well as a second-team All-Conference honoree. Adding to her list of achievements, Sfara also earned AVCA All-Region and PBC All-Academic honors as a junior.

“We lost great players but we also gained many,” said Sfara, “ Practices have been fantastic and every day we remind each other of the goals we want to achieve this year and keep that as our focus throughout our practices and training. I have full confidence in this year being better than the last.”

Last season Sfara collected 339 kills and 392 digs while ranking eleventh in the conference in kills and eighth in digs.

Meanwhile, Taylor Permenter collected 106 total blocks while hitting .306 last season. The Jacksonville, Fl. native ranked third in the PBC in both hitting percentage and blocks per set. She also earned PBC Player of the week honors on November 4th.

Permenter said, “We had an amazing team last year and we have used that experience to learn more about the game and how to come together. We are refusing to lose sight of our goals.”

The Pirates are led again this year by 2013 PBC coach of the year Will Condon.

“We plan to work as hard as we can in everything we do and to continuously grow, both as individuals and as a team,” said Condon, “We have complete faith in each other and I know that we will do everything we can to reach our full potential.”

The number 22-ranked Pirates will kick off the 2014 season at the Queens Invitational September 4-5 in Charlotte, N.C.