Box Score LAKELAND - Florida Southern returned to Sunshine State Conference action here Friday evening at Jenkins Field House by posting a hard-fought four-set victory over Florida Tech (24-26, 28-26, 25-18, 25-21) in a match-up between two teams that entered the day tied for second place in the league standings.
With the victory, the Moccasins improved to 12-5 overall on the season and took over sole possession of second place in the league as they moved to 4-1 in the SSC, while Florida Tech fell to 12-3 overall and 3-2 in the league. No. 3 ranked Tampa sits atop the league standings with a 5-0 record following its straight set home win Friday over Lynn.
Friday's match was its third consecutive home match and its first since having its four-match home win streak snapped on Tuesday with a 3-1 setback over Palm Beach Atlantic. In addition, the win was the Mocs fifth consecutive at home in SSC play since falling to Tampa on Nov. 3, 2012.
FSC's win was aided by strong defense as the Mocs recorded a season-high 107 digs and also posted a season-high 13 blocks and held the Panthers to a .121 hitting percentage on the night. The 13 blocks were the most recorded by the Mocs since recording 13 last season at Barry, while the 107 digs were the most in a single match by an FSC team since recording 106 digs in a five-set win over Rollins on Oct. 21, 2009.
The Mocs block party was led by a career-high seven blocks from junior outside hitter Kate Stromberg (Lexington, Ky.) and six blocks from sophomore middle blocker Kayshia Brady (Welaka, Fla.), while senior middle blocker Dominique Hale (Kingman, Ariz.) added four blocks in the win. In addition, five Mocs recorded 14 or more digs on the night, including junior libero Catherine Brusie (North Branch, Mich.) posting a match-high 29 and freshman outside hitter Brindl Langley (Camas, Wash.) chipped in with a career-high 27.
Junior right side hitter Gabby Fernandez (Tampa, Fla.) was one of thre Mocs to record a double-double on the night as she had a match-high 15 kills and added 14 digs for her third double-double of the season, while Stromberg added 13 kills and 16 digs to her seven blocks for her fifth double-double of the year and junior setter Kendall Marotti (LaBelle, Fla.) posted her 10th double-double of the season as she had 44 assists and 15 digs.
Friday's match was a hotly contested affair as it featured 17 ties and eight lead changes, including a combined 16 ties and seven lead changes in the first two sets.
In the first set, neither team was able to gain much of an advantage early on until Tech used a 9-4 run to turn a 9-all tie into an 18-13 lead. The run was keyed by four FSC attack errors. The Mocs, though, answered with an 8-4 run keyed by three Stromberg kills to push within 22-21. After Tech scored two consecutive points to push its lead to 24-21, the Mocs used kills from Brady, Langley and Fernandez to tie the set at 24-all. The Panthers would close out the set by scoring the final two points to post the 26-24 win. In the set, Stromberg recorded five kills and had three blocks as FSC hit .174, while Tech hit .196.
The second set was another barn burner as the Mocs jumped out to a 6-0 lead and led 11-4 when the Panthers used a 14-7 run capped by kill from Marilyn Dick to tie the set at 18-all. After a kill by Stromberg gave the Mocs a 19-18 lead, Tech would use a 6-3 run to take a 24-22 lead. The Mocs, though, wouldn't go away as they scored two straight points to tie things at 24. Each team would then trade the next four points until the Mocs closed out the set by scoring the final two points, including capping the 28-26 win with Brady and Fernandez combining for a block.
In the third set, the Panthers jumped out to a 3-0 lead and led 15-9 when the Mocs responded with a 16-3 run to close out the set and post a 25-18 win. During the run, Brusie served eight consecutive points, including ending the set with an ace as she had two during the run, while Langley served five consecutive points. In the set, FSC hit .175 and held Tech to an .000 hitting percentage.
The Mocs would open the fourth set by scoring the first four points and led 13-8 when the Panthers answered with a 5-4 run to pull within 17-13. The Mocs would extend its lead to 23-18, before Tech used a 3-1 run to close within 24-21. FSC would seal the win and set one point later on a kill by Fernandez to post the 25-21 win and snap Tech's three-match winning streak.
For the match, FSC's offense recorded 56 kills and hit .171 and also had six service aces, while Tech finished with 51 kills and four aces, but hit just .121.
The Panthers were paced by 13 kills and nine digs from Kim Juriga, while Alea Hamm added nine kills and three blocks and Charlie French posted eight kills and 14 digs in the loss. Tech's defense, which had 90 digs and five blocks, was led by 25 digs from Angie Lassman, who entered the match second in the SSC in digs per set as she was averaging 4.85 per set.
FSC will close out its four-match homestand Saturday afternoon as they host Barry in a 4 p.m. SSC match at Jenkins Field House. Barry fell to 5-7 overall and 1-4 on the season following its three-set loss Friday night in SSC play at Saint Leo.
