Box Score SAVANNAH, Ga. - Florida Southern Volleyball continued its stellar play here Friday evening as the Moccasins claimed a four-set victory over 22nd-ranked Flagler (25-20, 29-31, 25-16, 25-22) at Alumni Arena in its final match on the first day of the South/Southeast Region Challenge presented by Optim Health and hosted by Armstrong Atlantic State University.
Friday's win over Flagler followed the Mocs three-set win earlier in the day on Friday over North Alabama (25-15, 25-19, 25-19). With the two region victories, FSC improves to 6-4 overall on the season and extends its winning streak to five straight matches.
"We got two very good region wins today," Mocs head coach Jill Stephens said. "We showed a ton of composure and played with a good consistent intensity throughout the day."
In the victory over Flagler, who fell to 5-3 on the season, sophomore outside hitter Kate Stromberg (Lexington, Ky.) led the way offensively as she recorded a double-double of 17 kills and 13 digs. The double-double was her fourth of the season.
In addition to Stromberg, senior outside hitter Anne Pietkiewicz (Winter Haven, Fla.) added 15 kills and 14 digs for her third double-double this season and freshman middle blocker Kayshia Brady (Crescent City, Fla.) had a career-high 10 digs and hit .391 in the win.
"Our team continues to improve as we are nearing the beginning of conference play," said Stephens, who improved to 256-128 in her 12th season at her alma mater.
The big key against Flagler was the Mocs defense as they recorded 81 digs, outblocked the Saints, 7-5 and committed seven less attack errors (29-22). Both teams combined for 116 kills in the nearly two-hour match.
Sophomore defensive specialist Jasmine Childress (Muncie, Ind.) and freshman defensive specialist Arielle Fernandez (Pacifica, Calif.) recorded career-highs in digs with 20 and 19 respectively. In fact, four Mocs had double digits in digs and junior setter Ali Skayhan (Beaverton, Ore.) added her team-leading sixth double-double with 12 digs and 46 assists.
In the first set, Flagler jumped out to a 10-8 lead, before the Mocs used a 7-2 run keyed by three Stromberg kills to take a 15-12 lead. FSC's lead grew to 23-17, before the Saints scored three consecutive points to push within 23-20. That would be as close as Flagler would get as the Mocs scored the final two points, including capping the set with a solo block from Skayhan.
The second set was a marathon affair as the two teams battled to 15 ties and 10 lead changes. In the set, the Mocs jumped out to a 12-8 lead, before Flagler used a 10-5 run to take an 18-17 lead following a service ace from Sophie Meyer. From that point, neither team could gain an advantage as they traded the lead until the Saints scored the final two points of the set to take the 31-29 win to even the match. In the set, both teams hit .231 and combined to record a total of 45 digs.
FSC fell behind 4-1 in the third set, but used a 10-3 run to take an 11-7 lead. After a kill from Emilee Taylor pulled the Saints to 11-8, the Mocs extended its lead to 19-11 following an 8-3 run. Flagler would get within 20-13, but FSC scored five of the set's final eight points to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
The Mocs jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the fourth set and led 17-10 following a kill by Pietkiewicz when the Saints used an 11-5 run to pull within 22-21 following a kill by Rachel Stacy. The Mocs, though, regrouped as they answered Stacey's kill with kills from senior middle blocker Morgan Kosterlitz (Dunedin, Fla.), Pietkiewicz and Stromberg to seal its win.
Flagler was paced by 14 kills apiece from Dianna Craine and Taylor, while Meyer added 11 kills and hit .409. Craine added 24 digs and Casey Gnann paced the Saints defense with a match-high 25 digs.
FSC will conclude play in the tournament on Saturday as they face UPR-Rio Piedras at 11 a.m. and the home team, Armstrong Atlantic, at 2 p.m.
