Box Score LAKELAND - Florida Southern continued its four-match homestand here Tuesday evening by falling in four sets to Palm Beach Atlantic (22-25, 24-26, 25-21, 24-26) in non-conference action on "Pink Out" Night in front of a season-high 243 fans at Jenkins Field House.
The loss snapped the Moccasins four-match home winning streak and dropped its record to 11-5 overall on the season, while PBA improved to 12-3 overall on the season.
Tuesday's match-up, which was just the sixth all-time between the two schools and first since 2008, was against two teams that advanced to the NCAA Division II South Regional Tournament last season as PBA fell in the regional final to Tampa, while the Mocs lost to UT in the regional semifinals.
The match was a back-and-forth affair the entire night as there were 39 ties and 15 lead changes in the match that lasted a little over two hours. Along with a lot of lead changes and ties, the match also featured a lot of errors as both teams combined to commit 63 attack errors and each hit under .100 on the night.
FSC finished the night with 35 attack errors, 50 kills and hit .080, while PBA had 28 attack errors, 47 kills and hit .099 for the match.
Junior right side hitter Gabby Fernandez (Tampa, Fla.) led the Mocs offensive attack as she had 16 kills and nine digs and hit .205, which was a team-best amongst the starters. Along with Fernandez, freshman outside hitter Brindl Langley (Camas, Wash.) had 10 kills and a career-high 19 digs for her fifth double-double of the year, while sophomore middle blocker Kayshia Brady (Welaka, Fla.) recorded 10 kills and three blocks in the loss. Junior outside hitter Kate Stromberg (Lexington, Ky.) had eight kills, 15 digs and two blocks on the night.
While its offense struggled most of the night, it was the Mocs defense that helped keep them in the match as they recorded season highs in both digs (96) and blocks (12). Junior libero Catherine Brusie (North Branch, Mich.) was the main catalyst in digs as she finished with a collegiate career high tying 32 and senior middle blocker Dominique Hale (Kingman, Ariz.) was strong at the net as she finished with seven blocks, including two solo blocks.
In the first set, PBA jumped out to a 12-6 lead, before the Mocs answered with a 13-6 run capped by a service ace from Fernandez to take a 19-18 lead. The lead, though, would be shortlived as the Sailfish scored three straight points to take a 22-19 lead. After the Mocs pulled within 24-22 on an assisted block by Brady and sophomore setter Kendall Marotti (LaBelle, Fla.), PBA earned the win one point later on a kill by Faith Rohn. In the first set, the Mocs outhit PBA, .171 to .122 and had three blocks.
The Sailfish would once again get off to a strong start in the second set as they led 5-2 early on and held a 12-10 lead when the Mocs used an 11-4 run to take a 21-16 lead. The run was capped by back-to-back kills from Langley and Stromberg. PBA wouldn't go away as they answered with an 8-2 scoring run to take a 24-23 lead. After a Stromberg kill tied the set at 24-all, the Sailfish would close out the set by scoring the final two points to post a 26-24 win and take a 2-0 lead in the match. In the second set, FSC hit just .061, while PBA hit .205 and had 14 kills and five attack errors.
Much like the first two sets, the third set was more of the same as PBA jumped out to a 6-3 lead only to see the Mocs use a 6-2 run to take a 9-8 lead. The run was aided by four Sailfish attack errors. After PBA scored two consecutive points to take a 10-9 lead, the Mocs used a 12-5 capped by a Hale kill to push out to a 21-15 advantage. The Sailfish would pull within 22-20 thanks to back-to-back kills from Christina Alessi, but FSC would close out the set by scoring the final three of the final four points to post a 25-21 win and force a fourth set. In the set, FSC hit .000 as they had nine kills and nine attack errors, while PBA hit -.061 as they recorded seven kills and 10 attack errors.
In the fourth set, FSC jumped out to an 8-5 lead and led 11-9 when the Sailfish used a 7-2 run to take a 16-13 lead. PBA's lead would grow to 19-16 when the Mocs answered with a 6-3 run, including capping the run with back-to-back kills from Fernandez and Langley to tie the set at 22. From that point, the teams would trade the lead twice before PBA closed the set and match by scoring two consecutive points to post its first-ever victory over the Mocs. In the set, FSC hit .102 and had 16 kills, while PBA hit .140 and had 14 kills.
Marotti finished the night with 35 assists, eight digs and three blocks, while sophomore Lauren Shlemon (Tampa, Fla.) recorded a career-high nine assists on the night.
PBA was paced by 17 kills and six blocks from Alessi, while Rohn added 12 kills and nine digs in the win. Defensively, the Sailfish, who had 98 digs and eight blocks for the match, was paced by 32 digs from Melissa Buckingham, while Alex Marszalek added 18 digs and Becca Acevedo posted a double-double as she had 32 assists and 17 digs.
The Mocs will look to get back on track on Friday, Oct. 11 as they host Florida Tech (12-2, 3-1 SSC) in a 7 p.m. Sunshine State Conference match at Jenkins Field House to begin Parents Weekend. FSC will conclude its homestand and Parent's Weekend the next afternoon as they host Barry (5-6, 1-3) in a 4 p.m. SSC match on Saturday, Oct. 12.
