Box Score Ashley Martin made her Senior Day performance a memorable one, as she delivered a season-high 19 kills and hit .417 for the match to lead the Moccasins to a five-set win, 22-25, 25-20, 25-20, 18-25, 16-14, over Eckerd in the final regular season match Saturday afternoon at Jenkins Field House.
The win gave the Moccasins a final regular season record of 21-8, 11-5 in the Sunshine State Conference. Eckerd finished 9-18, 2-14 in the SSC.
Martin's 19 kills raised her career total to 1,114 and enabled her to move into 10th place on the Moccasins' career kills list. A second-team AVCA All-American in 2006 and 2007 for FSC, Martin had to miss the 2008 and 2009 seasons due to a shoulder injury, but returned for her final season this year and leads the team in kills with 280.
In addition to Martin's match-best 19 kills, the Moccasins received at least eight kills from four other players. Lauren Huber had nine, while Diana Castrillon, Anne Pietkiewicz and Natalie Arvizu each tallied eight. Anna Niebuhr led the defensive effort with 18 digs, while Elena Sorich added a career-high 15 digs.
Lindsay Biggs and Alex Laton each had 15 kills to lead Eckerd.
FSC trailed for most of the deciding fifth set, but a kill by Castrillon tied the set at 14-14. Pietkiewicz put the Moccasins ahead 15-14, then Huber produced the clinching point on a block.
The Moccasins will await official word late Sunday night that they have been selected for the NCAA Division II Tournament. The NCAA will announce the tournament field Sunday at 10 p.m. on www.ncaa.com. The top eight teams in the South Region will be selected for the South Regional Nov. 18-20, which likely will be played at Tampa. The Mocs were ranked fourth in this week's South Region poll.
