Box Score ST. AUGUSTINE - Florida Southern opened up its season-ending six-match road stretch here Saturday afternoon by falling in four sets to 19th-ranked Armstrong Atlantic (23-25, 26-24, 21-25, 22-25) in a non-conference match at the Flagler Gym on the Flagler College campus.
The Mocs, who completed the home portion of its 2013 schedule on Wednesday with a three-set loss to Eckerd, will play its final six matches of the regular season away from home. Saturday's match was the first of two on the day at Flagler as FSC will face Flagler in a 7 p.m. match later today.
With Saturday's setback, the Mocs record drops to 19-10 overall on the season, while Armstrong Atlantic improves to 22-0. The loss was also the second straight for the Mocs.
In Saturday's match, both teams recorded over 50 kills and had nine total team blocks, but AASU's defense held the Mocs to a .160 hitting percentage in the match, including holding FSC to under a .150 hitting percentage in the final two sets.
The match was very competitive as it featured 38 ties and eight lead changes, including 13 ties and four lead changes in the opening set.
Junior outside hitter Kate Stromberg (Lexington, Ky.) and freshman outside hitter Brindl Langley (Camas, Wash.) led a balanced Moccasin offensive attack as they each had 13 kills, while sophomore middle blocker Kayshia Brady (Welaka, Fla.) and junior right side hitter Gabby Fernandez (Tampa, Fla.) each had 11 kills in the match. Langley added 12 digs for her eighth double-double and hit a team-best .243.
In addition to the double-double by Langley, Stromberg also picked up her ninth double-double of the season as she added 18 digs, while senior middle blocker Dominique Hale (Kingman, Ariz.) had four blocks and added five kills and junior libero Catherine Brusie (North Branch, Mich.) picked up her ninth match of 20 or more digs as she finished with 21 against the Pirates.
AASU scored the first two points of the first set and led 8-6 when the Mocs used a 10-7 run to take a 16-15 lead that was capped by back-to-back kills from Langley. The Pirates would answer with a kill by Kristen Holmes to tie the set at 16-all. The Mocs would score the next two points to take an 18-16 lead, before AASU with a 7-2 run to take a 23-20 edge. FSC would score three consecutive points to tie the set at 23, but AASU would close out the set by scoring the final two points to post a 25-23 win. In the first set, both teams combined for 30 kills and FSC had four blocks in the set, including two each by Hale and Stromberg.
In the second set, the Pirates jumped out to a 3-0 lead, but the Mocs answered with a 9-2 run to take a 9-4 lead. The Mocs lead grew to 17-11, before AASU used an 8-2 run to tie the set at 19-all. From that point, the team's would trade points until the Mocs scored the final two points of the set to post a 26-24 win and tie the set at a match apiece. In the set, the Mocs hit .240, while AASU hit .279. The set featured seven ties and one lead change.
FSC would jump out to a 4-0 lead in the third set, before AASU used a 7-3 run to tie the set at 7. After the Mocs pushed its lead to 9-7, the Pirates answered with an 8-5 run to take a 15-14 lead. Stromberg, though, would slam home a kill to tie the set at 15, before AASU used a 5-3 run to take a 20-18 lead. The Mocs, though, would score two consecutive points to tie the set at 20. That would be as close as FSC would get as AASU scored five of the set's final seven points to post a 25-21 win and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
After the team's traded points to open the fourth set, AASU used a 12-8 run to take a 13-9 lead. After an error by AASU's Emily Wylie pushed FSC within 13-10, the Pirates pushed its lead out to 20-15. The Mocs, though, used a 5-3 run aided by three Pirate errors to pull within 23-20. Back-to-back kills by Marotti and Fernandez pushed FSC within 24-22, but AASU sealed the win on a service error by Marotti to post a 25-22 win.
AASU was paced by 14 kills and 29 digs by Stephanie Sfara and 14 kills and 15 digs by Jessica Santaniello. Wylie and Holmes each had 11 kills in the win. Megan Pando added a double-double with 44 assists and 13 digs and Morgan Hill had 24 digs for the match.
The Pirates finished the match with a .224 hitting percentage and had 90 digs and four service aces, while the Mocs had one ace and 73 digs in the match.
