Box Score ST. PETERSBURG - Florida Southern and Eckerd battled toe-to-toe here Wednesday evening in Sunshine State Conference action at the McArthur Center, but the Moccasins would come up short in the match as the Tritons rode a strong offensive output to post a hard-fought three-set victory on its home court. Eckerd won the match by scores of 25-22, 27-25 and 25-22.
The loss snapped FSC's season-high seven match winning streak and knocked them from the unbeaten ranks in the SSC as they fell to 10-4 overall and 3-1 in the league, while Eckerd improved to 8-3 overall and 2-1 in the SSC.
Wednesday's match, which was FSC's third straight on the road in league play, was a hard fought battle as the teams combined for 22 ties and 10 lead changes. In addition, both team were productive on offense as Eckerd finished with 62 kills and hit .262, while FSC had 51 kills and hit .179.
Junior outside hitter Kate Stromberg (Lexington, Ky.) and sophomore middle blocker Kayshia Brady (Welaka, Fla.) helped carry the Mocs offense as they recorded 11 and 10 kills respectively, while Brady also hit a match-high .471. In addition to Stromberg and Brady, freshman outside hitter Brindl Langley (Camas, Wash.) added eight kills and 16 digs in the loss.
In the opening set, Eckerd pushed out to a 9-6 lead, but the lead was shortlived as the Mocs used a 6-2 scoring run to take a 12-11 lead following an attack error by EC's Grace Jones. After the teams traded points, EC went on an 11-3 run to take a 22-16 lead. The Mocs would stop the run by using back-to-back kills from junior right side hitter Gabby Fernandez (Tampa, Fla.) and Langley to pull within 22-18, but EC would close the set by scoring three of the final seven points to earn the 25-22 win.
Much like the first set, the second set was another nip-and-tuck affair as the Mocs jumped out to a 3-1 lead and led 10-7 when the Tritons scored six consecutive points, including two points on service aces by Lindsay Biggs to take a 13-10 lead. After a Biggs service error stopped the run, the Tritons would respond again with an 8-4 run to push its lead to 21-15. The Mocs, though, wouldn't go away as they answered with a 9-3 run to tie the set at 24 after an attack error by Ali McAlvany. After the teams traded points, the Tritons scored the set's final two points to post a 27-25 win and take a 2-0 lead in the match. In the set, Brady recorded four kills and the Mocs hit .256, while EC hit .326 as McAlvany had five kills.
In the third set, the Tritons, who posted just its seventh-ever win over the Mocs and its second straight on its homecourt in the series as Eckerd won in four sets last season, jumped out to a 6-4 lead, before the Mocs rallied thanks to a 4-0 run to take an 8-6 lead. The run was keyed by two aces from junior defensive specialist Jasmine Childress (Muncie, Ind.). EC, though, responded with a 9-5 run to take a 15-13 lead. FSC would once again come back as they scored seven of the next 12 points to take a 20-18 lead following a kill by Brady, who finished with four in the set. EC, though, would tie the set at 20 and after a kill by Langley gave the Mocs a 21-20 lead, the Tritons would close out the set and match by scoring five of the final six points to post a 25-22 win.
For the match, both teams each recorded 69 digs, while FSC held an 8-6 edge in total team blocks. The biggest difference in the match were attack errors as the Mocs finished with 17 on the night, including eight in the third and final set. In the third set, the Mocs had 14 kills and eight errors and hit .113, while EC had 13 kills and four errors and hit .200. The Tritons did record 14 attack errors themselves, but didn't have more than six in a set, which came in the second when they recorded 20 kills enroute to hitting .326.
Sophomore setter Kendall Marotti (LaBelle, Fla.) continued her strong play on the season as she finished with four kills, two assisted blocks and posted her eighth double-double with 32 assists and 11 digs. Senior middle blocker Dominique Hale (Kingman, Ariz.) had four blocks on the night, while freshman middle blocker Rachel Mostert (Clearwater, Fla.), who playing about 30 minutes from her hometown, added three blocks and one kill, all of which came in the second set.
Eckerd was paced by 13 kills and a match-high 24 digs from Biggs, while McAlvany added 11 kills and 12 digs in the sweep. Jones added nine kills and hit .350 for the Tritons and Tjasa Kotnik had seven kills, four blocks and hit .294 for the match.
The Mocs will look to start a new winning streak as they return to action on Friday, Oct. 4 as they host Embry-Riddle in a 7 p.m. non-conference match at Jenkins Field House. ERAU (10-5 on the season) is ranked 14th in the latest Tachikara-NAIA Top 25 Coaches' Poll.
