Box Score PENSACOLA - Florida Southern capped the first day of the South Regional Crossover hosted by the University of West Florida by posting a hard-fought four-set victory over Valdosta State (25-23, 25-20, 19-25, 27-25) at the UWF Field House. The win was the second of the day for the Moccasins in the two-day event as they opened with a three-set win earlier in the day against North Alabama.
With the win, the Mocs extend its win streak to four straight matches and improves to 15-5 overall on the year, while VSU falls to 14-6 on the year.
The win over VSU was aided by a strong offensive performance as the Mocs finished with 59 kills and hit .191, while limiting the Blazers of the Gulf South Conference to 47 kills and a .118 hitting percentage. FSC finished the match with 25 attack errors, while VSU had 27 attack errors.
In the win, sophomore middle blocker Kayshia Brady (Welaka, Fla.) and senior middle blocker Dominique Hale (Kingman, Ariz.) combined for 27 kills and hit a combined .333 as Brady hit .273 and Hale tallied a match-high .407 hitting percentage. Hale and Brady were very dominating over the final two sets as they combined for 15 of FSC's 31 kills and hit a combined .364.
Along with Brady and Hale, junior right side hitter Gabby Fernandez (Tampa, Fla.) added 12 kills and hit .300, while junior outside hitter Kate Stromberg (Lexington, Ky.) chipped in with 10 kills and 16 digs for her sixth double-double of the season.
In the first set, FSC jumped in front 2-0 and led 8-4 when VSU used a 9-5 run to tie the set at 13-all. Neither team could gain control of the set until FSC closed out the set by scoring the final three points, including collecting the win on a service ace by junior defensive specialist Jasmine Childress (Muncie, Ind.) to seal the 25-23 win. In the set, both teams hit over .300 as FSC hit .389 and VSU recorded a .333 hitting percentage.
Much like the first set, FSC jumped out to a 2-0 lead and led 6-3 when USU used a 10-5 run to take a 13-11 lead. The Mocs, though, answered with a 4-0 run to take a 15-13 lead. The run was capped by an assisted block from sophomore setter Kendall Marotti (LaBelle, Fla.) and Brady. VSU would respond with a 4-0 run to retake the lead at 17-15. FSC, though, would answer with a 3-0 run to take an 18-17 lead, before a Fernandez attack error retied the set at 18-all. Following Fernandez's error, the Mocs closed out the set by scoring seven of the final nine points, including capping the set win with a kill from Brady to post a 25-20 victory and take a 2-0 lead in the match.
The Blazers jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the third set, but the Mocs used a 5-1 run to pull within 7-6 following a kill by Hale. The Blazers would answer with a 2-0 run to push its lead to 9-6 when the Mocs responded with a 4-0 run to take a 10-9 lead after another kill by Hale. VSU would score two of the next three points to tie the set at 11. From that point, neither team could take control until VSU used a 10-2 run to turn a 13-all tie into a 23-15 lead. The Mocs wouldn't go away without a fight as they responded with a 4-0 run to pull within 23-19. The Blazers would answer by scoring the set's final two points to post a 25-19 win and force a fourth set.
In the fourth set, VSU jumped out to a 4-1 lead and led 6-2 when the Mocs used a 5-0 run to take a 7-6 lead. The lead was shortlived as VSU answered with a 3-2 run to things up at 9-all following an attack error by Marotti. The Mocs would retake the lead at 11-9, before VSU retied the set at 11-all. Following that tie, the Mocs used a 4-1 run to push out to a 15-12 lead. FSC would extend its lead to 16-13, before VSU pulled within 16-15 following a kill by Jessica Codato. Codato's kill, though, seemed to light a fire into the Mocs as they scored four of the next five points to take a 20-16 lead. VSU, though, would mount a comeback as they scored two straight points to drop FSC's lead to 20-18. The Mocs lead would grow to 22-18, when VSU scored six straight points to take a 24-22 lead. All six of those points came off of Moccasin errors. FSC stopped the run on a kill by Hale and then tied the set at 24 on a kill by Brady. After the teams traded points thanks to errors, the Mocs cemented the win by scoring two straight points to post the 27-25 win and earn the four-set victory.
After hitting .333 in the first set against the Mocs, FSC limited the Blazers to a combined to hit .066 over the final three sets as they recorded 31 kills, but had 22 attack errors.
While its offense came up strong against the Blazers, so too, did the Mocs defense as they recorded 89 digs and totaled six team blocks, including three blocks apiece from Hale and Marotti in the victory. The Mocs defensive effort was paced by a career-high 20 digs from Marotti, while freshman outside hitter Brindl Langley (Camas, Wash.) added 18 digs and junior libero Catherine Brusie (North Branch, Mich.) had 17 digs. Marotti added 51 assists for her team-leading 11th double-double of the year.
The Blazers were paced by 18 kills and 11 digs from Jenna Kirkwood, while Destiny Berry added nine kills and three blocks in the loss.
VSU finished the match with 80 digs as Codato led the way with a match-high 22 and Krista Bradford added 18 and also recorded 10 service aces, including three each from Codato and Kirkwood.
FSC will close out play in the South Regional Crossover on Saturday, Oct. 19 as they face Christian Brothers at 10:30 a.m. and then meet 19th-ranked West Florida at 3 p.m.
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