Box Score SAINT LEO - Florida Southern opened the second half of Sunshine State Conference play here Tuesday evening by falling in three sets to Saint Leo (24-26, 20-25, 16-25) at the Bowman Center on the SLU campus.
With the loss, the Moccasins fall to 17-8 overall and 6-3 in the SSC, while SLU improves to 18-7 overall and 6-3 in the league. Both FSC and SLU moved into a tie for second place in the league standings.
In Tuesday's match, the Mocs were held to a season-low 28 kills and hit under .100 for just the third time this year and first time since hitting .097 in a four-set loss at then 19th-ranked West Florida in its final match at the South Regional Crossover in Pensacola on Oct. 19.
After recording just one attack error in the first set and hitting .268, the Mocs recorded 18 attack errors and hit a -.023 over the final two sets.
On the night, junior outside hitter Kate Stromberg (Lexington, Ky.) led the way for the Mocs offensively with seven kills and added 12 digs and blocks, while freshman outside hitter Brindl Langley (Camas, Wash.) added six kills, including five in the first set and chipped in with nine digs. Junior right side hitter Gabby Fernandez (Tampa, Fla.) and freshman middle blocker Rachel Mostert (Clearwater, Fla.) each had five kills in the loss. Mostert also hit a team-best .214 in her first career start as a Moccasin.
In the first set, SLU scored the first three points to jump out in front 3-0, but the Mocs responded with a 9-2 run to take a 9-5 lead. The run was highlighted by three kills from Langley. SLU, though, would answer with a 14-7 run to take a 19-16 lead. FSC would once again battle back as they used a 7-3 run to take a 23-22 lead. The run was keyed by five SLU errors. The Lions, though, would answer by scoring four of the set's final five points to post a 26-24 win and take a 1-0 lead in the set. The Lions ending run was aided by two kills from Meghan Donovan and capped by a kill from Tawni Warren. In the set, FSC hit .268 and had 12 kills and one attack errors, while SLU hit .280 as they recorded 23 kills and had nine attack errors.
FSC jumped in front 4-1 in the second set, but the Lions used a 9-2 run to take a 10-6 lead. The Mocs would pull within 11-8, but SLU used an 8-4 run to push its lead to 19-12. The Mocs wouldn't go away as they answered right back with a 5-1 run to pull within 20-17. After SLU scored two straight points to push its lead to 22-17, the Mocs would score three straight points to drop SLU's lead to 22-20. That would be as close as FSC would get as the Lions scored the set's final three points to post a 25-20 win and take a 2-0 lead in the match. The Mocs struggled hitting the ball in the second set as they finished with an -.047 attack percentage, while SLU hit .222 and recorded five blocks.
Trailing 2-0 in the match, the Mocs jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the third set. The lead, though, wouldn't last for long as SLU used an 8-0 run aided by three Moccasin errors to take a 10-6 lead. FSC used a 4-1 run highlighted by two kills from Mostert to pull within 11-9. The Lions would use an 8-3 run to extend its lead to 19-12. The run was aided by five Moc attack errors. After an attack error by SLU's Lauren Campbell stopped the run, the Lions would close out the set and the match by scoring six of the final 10 points to post the 25-16 win and record its first-ever three-set sweep over the Mocs. FSC hit .000 in the set and SLU hit .194.
SLU, who finished the night with a .237 hitting percentage, was paced by three players with 11 kills. Alexa Griffin-Hardy was one of those players as she had 11 kills and hit .391, while Campbell added a double-double of 11 kills and 12 digs and Warren also had 11 kills, 17 digs and two blocks in the win. Jordan Sisson chipped in with nine kills and a .533 hitting percentage for the Lions, who extended its winning streak to two straight matches.
Defensively, FSC finished with 59 digs and five blocks as junior libero Catherine Brusie (North Branch, Mich.) had 15 digs and senior middle blocker Dominique Hale (Kingman, Ariz.) had three blocks. SLU finished the match with 72 digs and eight blocks as Yaidimar Santiago and Warren each had 17 digs, while Donovan posted four blocks, including two solo blocks.
The Mocs return to action on Friday, Nov. 1 as they host Nova Southeastern (5-14 overall, 1-7 SSC) in a 7 p.m. SSC match at Jenkins Field House. FSC picked up a three-set win over the Sharks in Fort Lauderdale on Sept. 28.
