Box Score PENSACOLA - Florida Southern opened up play here Friday morning in the South Regional Crossover by posting a three-set victory over North Alabama (25-12, 25-16, 25-16) at the UWF Field House on the campus of the University of West Florida.
With the win, the Mocs improve to 14-5 overall on the season and run its win streak to three straight matches, while UNA fell to 5-13 on the year.
Friday's match with UNA was the first of two on the day for the Moccasins as they will face Valdosta State (13-5) in a 5:15 p.m. match later this afternoon.
The Mocs victory was aided by a strong defensive effort that held the Lions of the Gulf South Conference to a -.039 hitting percentage for the match. It was the first time FSC held an opponent to a minus-hitting percentage since holding Mesa State to an -.033 hitting percentage on Sept. 1, 2006.
Along with a strong defensive match, the Mocs offense was also strong as they hit .292 and had four players hit over .300 for the match. Leading the way offensively for FSC was sophomore middle blocker Kayshia Brady (Welaka, Fla.) as she recorded a match-high 11 kills and had just one error on 16 attack attempts for a .625 hitting percentage. In addition to Brady, junior outside hitter Kate Stromberg (Lexington, Ky.) had eight kills and hit .333, while junior right side hitter Gabby Fernandez (Tampa, Fla.) added six kills and seven digs in the win.
Sophomore setter Kendall Marotti (LaBelle, Fla.) finished with a .667 hitting percentage as she had four kills, 23 assists, six digs and three blocks and senior middle blocker Dominique Hale (Kingman, Ariz.) hit .400 as she had two kills and added five blocks as FSC outblocked UNA, 7-6.
UNA jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first set, but the Mocs answered with a 15-2 run to take a 15-7 lead. The run was capped by an ace from freshman outside hitter Brindl Langley (Camas, Wash.) and keyed by eight errors from the Lions. After UNA's Joanna Calhoun slammed home a kill to cut FSC's lead to 15-8, the Mocs scored six consecutive points to take a 21-8 lead. UNA would score four of the next five points to pull within 22-12, before FSC scored the set's final three points to post the 25-12 win. The Lions were held to a -.192 hitting percentage in the set, while FSC hit .316.
In the second set, FSC jumped out to a 12-4 lead and led 21-9 when the Lions used a 4-1 run to drop the Mocs lead to 22-13. FSC would then use a kill by Fernandez and a UNA attack error to push its lead to 24-13. The Lions, though, wouldn't go away as they scored three straight points to pull within 24-16, before FSC sealed the 25-16 win thanks to an assisted block by Hale and Marotti. FSC hit .211 and UNA hit .000 in the set.
Leading 2-0 in the match, FSC jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the third set, before UNA used a 6-2 run to pull within 7-6 following a kill by Natasha Fomina. The Mocs would answer with a 6-2 run to push its lead to 13-8. After an ace by Hope Rayburn dropped FSC's lead to 13-9, the Mocs used a 9-3 run to extend its lead to 22-14. The run was capped by back-to-back kills from Stromberg and Brady. UNA would push within 23-16 thanks to two kills by Megan Gorey, before FSC closed out the set by scoring the final two points, including capping the match win with a kill from Fernandez. In the third set, FSC hit .375 and held UNA to an .025 hitting percentage.
Defensively for the Mocs, junior libero Catherine Brusie (North Branch, Mich.) and Stromberg each had 10 digs, while Fernandez added seven.
One of the big keys for the Mocs was its serving as they had eight aces for the match, including a career-high four from Langley. Junior defensive specialist Jasmine Childress (Muncie, Ind.) tied her season high with two aces, while Stromberg and Brusie each had one in the win. UNA recorded six aces for match as Calhoun and Casey Roethler each had two.
UNA, who committed 25 attack errors and had just 21 kills, was led by Gorey, who had eight kills and three blocks. Hannah Schorr added four kills and hit a team-best .364, while Calhoun had three kills, five digs and five blocks in the loss.
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