Box Score LAKELAND - Florida Southern concluded the home portion of its 2012 schedule here Tuesday evening with a hard-fought four-set victory over Saint Leo (25-22, 23-25, 25-16, 25-22) in Sunshine State Conference action at Jenkins Field House.
The Moccasins, who improved to 20-11 overall and 10-5 in the SSC, used a triple-double from junior setter Ali Skayhan (Beaverton, Ore.) and an efficient offense that recorded 52 kills and hit .284 in closing its home season with an 8-2 record, including an 8-1 mark in Jenkins Field House.
With the win, FSC, who is ranked sixth in the most recent NCAA Division II South Regional rankings, also achieved its 31st 20-win season in school history and its first 20-win campaign since posting a 21-9 record during the 2010 season.
Skayhan's triple-double was her second of the season and just the fifth in school history. In Tuesday's match, Skayhan recorded 11 kills, 36 assists and 14 digs and hit .556. Her first triple-double this year came earlier this season against Lynn as she had 11 kills, 41 assists and 18 digs in that match.
In addition to Skayhan's 11 kills, senior Anne Pietkiewicz (Winter Park, Fla.), who was playing her final home match of her Moccasin career, led the way offensively with 12 kills and added 10 digs for her 13th double-double of the season. Freshman middle blocker Kayshia Brady (Crescent City, Fla.) continued her stellar play as she picked up 10 kills and hit .500 in the win. Over her last four matches, Brady has recorded 40 kills, including collecting a career-high 20 kills last Friday against Florida Tech and is hitting .466.
The Lions, who fell to 11-16 overall and 3-12 in the SSC, took the first three points of the first set, but the Mocs used a 9-1 scoring run to establish a 9-4 lead. The Mocs would fend off a Lion rally mid-set as SLU tied the match up at 15-all. From that point, the teams traded points before the Lions would push in front, 21-20. A kill by Brady gave the Mocs the lead once again and a kill by sophomore outside hitter Gabby Fernandez (Tampa, Fla.) finished a 5-1 run that ended set one for the Mocs at 25-22.
Much like the first set, the Lions jumped out to an early lead in set two, before the Mocs would regroup and tie the match up at 6-all. However, a service error by the Mocs reignited the Lions momentum as they scored three unanswered points. From there, SLU would control the set and push their lead to 24-18. FSC held off five set points, but Saint Leo kept the Mocs at bay long enough to squeak out the win 25-23 and tie the set at one set apiece. Despite falling in the second set, the Mocs recorded a .344 hitting percentage, but was done in by four service errors.
The third set belonged to the Mocs as SLU tied the set at 2-2 early on, but FSC went on a 12-4 run to take a 14-6 lead. The Lions put together a 4-0 run to pull within 14-10, but it was futile, as the Mocs wouldn't let them get any closer. FSC would push its lead back up to as much as eight points at 21-13. Following the run, SLU scored three straight points to pull within 21-16, before the Mocs would end the set on an attack error by SLU to post a 25-16 win. In the third set, the Mocs hit .393 and held SLU to a .172 hitting percentage.
In the fourth set, the Mocs were able to put away the pesky Lions after SLU clawed back into the match after being down 9-5. The Lions would get as close as 12-11, but it was a Moc timeout at 16-14 that sparked their next run. The Mocs would rally off five unanswered points before SLU got back on the board starting an 8-4 run to come within two points at 24-22. Freshman setter Kendall Marotti (LaBelle, Fla.) recorded a kill to end the match and help the Mocs post a 25-22 win.
SLU was paced by 14 kills from Sami Vierk and 10 kills from Tawni Warren. Molly Alexander paced the Lions defense with 22 digs as they outdug the Mocs for the match, 61-56.
The Mocs will close out the 2012 regular season on Saturday, Nov. 17 as they travel to Fort Lauderdale for a 6 p.m. SSC match against Nova Southeastern. The Mocs collected a four-set win over the Sharks in Lakeland on Oct. 12.
