Box Score TAMPA - Florida Southern began its journey towards a regional title here Thursday by posting a thrilling come-from-behind five-set victory over Eckerd (22-25, 25-23, 23-25, 30-28, 15-11) in the first round of the NCAA Division II South Regional Tournament held at the Bob Martinez Athletics Center on the University of Tampa campus.
The Moccasins, who improved to 22-11 overall on the season, lost two of the first three sets on Thursday before rallying to earn a 30-28 win in the fourth set and then collecting a 15-12 victory in the fifth and deciding set to advance to regional semifinals on Friday, Nov. 29 at 7:30 p.m. It marks the second straight regional semifinal berth for the Mocs as they opened last season's South Regional with a five-set win over West Florida in Tampa.
"What a fantastic win for our team," Mocs head coach Jill Stephens said following the win. "I thought our players played with a lot effort, enthusiasm and heart tonight against a very good Eckerd team."
The fifth-seeded Mocs win was aided by the play of freshman middle blocker Kayshia Brady (Crescent City, Fla.) recorded a match-high 18 kills and hit .395 in the victory. In the three sets the Mocs won, Brady recorded 12 kills, including six in the second set. In addition to Brady, junior setter Ali Skayhan (Beaverton, Ore.) recorded her third triple-double of the season as she had 45 assists, 12 digs and 10 kills, including three kills in the fifth set and hit .625. Prior to this season, the Mocs had only had three triple-doubles in school history.
Thursday's match was a back-and-forth affair most of the night as their were 39 ties and 18 lead changes, inclduing 21 ties and 11 lead changes in the fourth set alone.
"It was a tremendous volleyball match. I thought we made some big plays when we needed them and had some players step up at crucial times in the match," said Stephens, who improved to 10-8 all-time in NCAA matches as the Mocs coach.
In the fourth set, neither team was able to gain much of an edge early on until the Mocs used a 4-0 scoring run to turn a 16-15 deficit into a 19-16 lead. After the Tritons pulled within 20-18, senior outside hitter Anne Pietkiewski (Winter Park, Fla.) delivered her 10th kill of the match to give the Mocs a 21-18 lead. Eckerd, who was the region's No. 4 seeded team, responded with a 4-1 run to tie the set at 22. After FSC scored two straight points to retie the set at 24, the Tritons would score two straight points to force another tie at 24. Following Eckerd's run, the teams would trade points until the Mocs scored the set's final two points to collect the 30-28 win and force a fifth and deciding set.
Eckerd, who closed the season with a 21-10 record, jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the fifth set, before the Mocs used a 5-0 run to take a 7-5 lead. After Eckerd scored two straight points to tie the set at 7, the Mocs scored three consecutive points to take a 10-7 lead. The Tritons would pull within 11-10, before back-to-back kills from freshman defensive specialist Lauren Shelmon (Tampa, Fla.) and Brady gave the Mocs a 13-10 advantage. Eckerd used two kills by Lindsay Biggs sandwiched between a kill from Brady to pull within 14-12, before sophomore Gabby Fernandez (Tampa, Fla.) capped the win with a kill.
In addition to Brady and Skayhan, Pietkiewicz finished with 13 kills, while Fernandez added 12 kills and a career-high 20 digs playing just two minutes from her high school. Sophomore libero Jasmine Childress (Muncie, Ind.) led the Mocs defense with a career-high 25 digs as FSC finished with 77 digs in the match and had 11 total team blocks, including a career-high nine blocks by junior middle blocker Dominique Hale (Kingman, Ariz.).
The Mocs opened the first set by scoring the first seven points, including two service aces by Fernandez. The Tritons, though, responded with a 15-8 run to tie the set at 15. With the set tied, Eckerd used a 4-2 scoring run to take a 19-17 lead that forced the Mocs to call its second timeout of the set. Trailing 23-20, the Mocs pulled within 23-22, but the Tritons closed out the set by scoring the final two points to earn the 25-22 win.
In the second set, neither team was able to get much of an edge early on until the Tritons used a 4-1 run to turn an 11-all tie into a 15-12 lead. Eckerd would push its lead to 20-16, before the Mocs used a 5-1 run to tie the set at 21 after a service ace from Skayhan. After Eckerd took a 23-21 lead, the Mocs scored four consecutive points, including back-to-back service aces from Pietkiewicz to close out the set and post a 25-23 win to tie the match at 1-all. The set was capped by a kill from Brady, who was named this season's Sunshine State Conference Freshman and Newcomer of the Year.
Eckerd jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the third set and led 9-5 when the Mocs used a 5-1 run to tie the set at 10 following a kill by Pietkiewicz. The Tritons pushed its lead to 15-12, before FSC scored two straight points to pull within 15-14. The Tritons led 19-16, before FSC used a 7-4 run to tie the set at 23 following an assisted block by Hale and Fernandez. EC, though, scored the final two points to earn a 25-23 win and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
The Tritons were led offensively by Ali McAlvany, who recorded 17 kills and added 15 digs for a double-double. In addition to McAlvany, Biggs had 15 kills and 20 digs in the loss, while Taylor Whaley added 14 kills and Kaleigh Humphrey recorded a match-high 27 digs.
For the match, the Mocs hit .223 as they recorded 66 kills and committed 24 attack errors, while Eckerd hit .200 as they had 69 kills and 32 attack errors.
The Mocs will now face top-seed and seventh-ranked Tampa in the second of two regional semifinals on Friday evening after the Spartans advanced with a three-set win over No. 8 seed Clark Atlanta. The first semifinal will feature No. 3 seeded Palm Beach Atlantic meeting No. 7 seed Christian Brothers at 5 p.m. PBA advanced to the semifinals with a four-set win over No. 6 seed Rollins, while CBU posted a four-set upset win over No. 2 seed West Florida in Thursday's afternoon action.
