Box Score MELBOURNE - Florida Southern ended their 2013 regular season with their second straight win Saturday evening, posting a four-set victory (21-25, 25-19, 25-19, 25-19) in Sunshine State Conference action over Florida Tech at the Clemente Center on the FIT campus.
The Mocs, who improved their record to 21-13 and 10-6 in conference action, moved into a tie for third place in the SSC with Saint Leo, while the Panthers dropped to 15-15 and 5-11 in the conference.
Florida Southern, ranked fifth in the latest NCAA Division II South Region standings, recorded 56 kills for the second straight match and committed only 15 attack errors on 161 attack attempts. The Mocs also had three players hit .250 or better in the match, along with four players posting double-digit digs.
Leading the Mocs on offense was sophomore middle blocker Kayishia Brady (Welaka, Fla.) as she had 16 kills, including five in the opening set, and hit a team-leading .484 in the match. Following Brady was junior outside hitter Kate Stromberg (Lexington, Ky.) had 13 kills and 20 digs, along with two of the team's 10 blocks, for her 13th double-double. Sophomore setter Kendall Marotti (LaBelle, Fla.) recorded 43 assists and nine digs, just one shy of her 20th double-double.
Junior libero Catherine Brusie (North Branch, Mich.) added 26 digs to the team's 82 digs, posting her 13th 20-plus dig match on the season. Freshman outside hitter Brindl Langley (Camas, Wash.) and junior outside hitter Gabby Fernandez (Tampa, Fla.) also recorded double-digit dig totals, with Langley recording 12 and Fernandez 10. Fernandez also recorded two service aces in the victory over the Panthers.
The first set was a rough go for the Mocs, as they fell behind early by as much as nine points and could never recover. The Panthers used two five-point runs throughout the match to widen their lead over the visiting Mocs before finishing them off at the end. Florida Southern hit .128 and committed seven errors in the set, while allowing Florida Tech to hit .239 and commit only four errors.
The Mocs jumped out to an early 2-0 lead behind a kill from Stromberg and a Florida Tech attack error, before the Panthers tied the score with two straight points. Florida Southern would retake the lead after a Marotti kill, before the two teams battle back and forth for the lead. Neither team was able to pull ahead by more than four points for much of the set, until FSC went on a six-point run to pull ahead 18-16 late in the set. Florida Tech continued to hang around until the Mocs used a 7-2 run to close out the second set with a win, evening the match at one apiece. Unlike set one, the Mocs hit a scorching .452 in the second set, while only committing one error. The Moccasin defense also limited Florida Tech to a .194 hitting percentage, along with forcing them into committing six turnovers.
Neither team was able to hold onto a lead for long early in the third set, before FSC scored six consecutive points to pull ahead 10-4 midway through the set. Florida Tech battled back, pulled to within four, before the Mocs went on a 6-3 run to widen their lead. The Panthers closed the gap late, but Florida Southern finished off the host team to pull ahead two sets to one. Florida Southern hit .371 in the set with 15 kills while limiting FIT to a .171 hit percentage.
Florida Southern jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the final set of the evening, with three points coming off consecutive Panther errors. Unlike earlier sets, Florida Southern's led in the fourth set was never threatened, leading by as many as seven and as little as three before the Mocs closed the set with Brady's 16 kill of the match, giving Florida Southern the victory. The Moccasins forced Florida Tech into committing nine attack errors, while limiting them to an abysmal .080 hit percentage.
The Panthers were led on offense by Kaitlin Brennan with 14 kills, while Angie Lassman added 30 digs in the losing effort.
With the regular season concluded, the Mocs will now wait for their seeding for the NCAA Division II South Regionals, which will be announced on Monday, Nov. 25. The South Regional Tournament will begin with quarterfinal matches on Thursday, Dec. 5 at the region's highest seeded team, which is expected to be Tampa as the Spartans are ranked No. 1 in both the regional and national rankings.
