MELBOURNE, Fla. — It’s been a historic year for the Florida Tech volleyball team.

The program earned its first-ever NCAA Regional Tournament bid after a 20-win season, earning the No. 5 seed in the South Region with a 14-6 conference record.

One of the team’s rocks is defensive specialist Courtney Capar from Jupiter, who enjoys being on the floor while on the floor.

“I personally like to dig the ball better than serve receive. I love being on the ground. It’s such a good feeling when you dig a ball, I love it,” Capar said.

Capar is a junior and went through a rough 2023 season, where the team went 3-17 in conference play, but 2024 is quite the turnaround.

“Breaking all these records, this year has been huge, I feel like I came to the school to be a part of the change, and hopefully turn the program around, and I feel like that’s what we are doing now,” Capar said.

A lot of the credit goes to head coach Jordan Willis and his staff, who led the course correction.

“The turnaround has been fantastic. Hey, our first national ranking,” Willis said.

His message is the team’s theme – stronger together.

“They love each other, they get along, they’re all friends, the drama is non-existent because they all care,” Willis said.

Now, this compilation of engineering, biology, oceanography majors and even a journalism major like Capar has come together in a quest for a national title.

“This is definitely a year of growth and I’m so lucky to be a part of it,” she said.

Next up for the Florida Tech Panthers will be to travel to Embry Riddle in the first round of the tournament on Thursday, Dec. 6.