TAMPA - Florida Southern is set to begin its quest for a regional championship here Thursday evening as the fourth-seeded Moccasins will open play in the 2013 NCAA Division II South Regional Tournament against fifth-seeded Saint Leo at 5 p.m. in the third of four quarterfinal matches at the Bob Martinez Athletics Center on the campus of the University of Tampa.
The Mocs, who finished the regular season with a 21-13 overall and was tied for third in the Sunshine State Conference with a 10-6 mark, will be making its fourth consecutive and 27th overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The 27 NCAA Tournament appearances is fourth-most all-time in Division II as the Mocs are 19-29 all-time in tournament matches and have had three Final Four finishes (1981, '89, '91) and have won four regional titles (1981, '89, '90 and '91).
Moccasin 13th-year coach Jill Stephens has led FSC to 11 NCAA Tournament appearances in 13 seasons at the helm of her alma mater, including advancing to the regional semifinals the past two seasons. The Mocs ended their season the past two years with three set losses to Tampa, who is serving as the regional host for the second straight year.
Thursday's meeting with Saint Leo will be the third of the season between the two SSC rivals that are located within 35 miles of each other. The teams split their regular season meetings on their respective home courts as the Mocs won in four sets in Lakeland on Sept. 24 and the Lions collected a three-set sweep over the Mocs in Saint Leo on Oct. 29. The match-up will be the 73rd all-time in the series as the Mocs lead the all-time series, 65-7. In addition, it will be the fourth time the team's have met in the NCAA Tournament and the first time since the Lions picked up a five-set win in the first round of the 2008 NCAA D-II South Regional. The Mocs are 2-1 against SLU in the NCAA Tournament.
FSC, who has won 20 or more matches for the second consecutive season and 32nd time in school history, is one of four SSC teams that earned NCAA Tournament bids this season as Tampa (29-1), who finished 16-0 in SSC play and claimed its ninth straight SSC title this season, is the region's No. 1 seed and host team, while Eckerd (20-9), who finished second in the SSC with an 11-5 record, earned the No. 3 seed and Rollins (22-10) earned the No. 7 seed after finishing fifth in the SSC with a 9-7 record.
In addition to the Mocs match on Thursday, Eckerd will open regional action at 12 p.m. against No. 6 seeded and 21st-ranked West Florida (26-7), while No. 2 seeded and 19th-ranked Palm Beach Atlantic (29-3) will square off against Rollins at 2:30 p.m. and No. 1 ranked and region top-seed Tampa will conclude first round action at 7:30 p.m. against No. 8 seeded Kentucky State (23-18), who earned the automatic bid from the SIAC. The regional semifinals are scheduled for Friday, Dec. 6 at 4:30 and 7 p.m., with the regional championship match slated for Saturday, Dec. 7 at 7 p.m.
The Mocs enter the postseason having won its final two matches of the regular season as they earned four-set victories at Barry and Florida Tech nearly two weeks ago. The two-match win streak came on the heels of five-match losing skid, which was the longest of the season for the Mocs. Leading the way for FSC heading into regional play is junior outside hitter Kate Stromberg (Lexington, Ky.), sophomore setter Kendall Marotti (LaBelle, Fla.), sophomore middle blocker Kayshia Brady (Welaka, Fla.), junior libero Catherine Brusie (North Branch, Mich.) and freshman outside hitter Brindl Langley (Camas, Wash.).
Stromberg leads the Mocs in kills (311), kills per set (2.68) and aces (34) and is second in digs (443) and double-doubles (13) and is fifth in blocks with 40, while Marotti, who was named a Second-Team All-SSC selection, a Second-Team Daktronics All-South Region and an Honorable Mention AVCA All-South Region honoree, leads the team in assists (1,282), assists per set (10.34), hitting percentage (.344) and double-doubles (19) and she has also recorded 143 kills, 20 aces and 78 blocks, which is third-most on the team and Brady is tied for second in kills (283), is second in kills per set (2.60) and blocks (79) and is hitting .267 on the year. Brusie, who was named a First-Team All-SSC selection, is averaging 4.86 digs per set and has recorded 593 digs on the season, which is second-most on the school's single-season chart and recorded two matches with 30-plus digs and has had 31 aces and Langley, who was tabbed the SSC Freshman of the Year, is tied for second in kills (283) and is third in digs (443) and has had 10 double-doubles and 28 service aces.
Other key performers for the Mocs are junior right side hitter Gabby Fernandez (Tampa, Fla.) and senior middle blocker Dominique Hale (Kingman, Ariz.). Fernandez, who has recorded three double-doubles on the season, is fourth in kills (281), fifth in digs (279) and is tied for third in aces (28) and has had 56 blocks and is hitting .179, while Hale leads the team in blocks with 108 and is averaging 0.89 blocks per set, which is ninth in the SSC and she has also added 242 kills and is hitting .228 on the year.
As a team, the Mocs lead the league and are fourth in Division II in digs per set (19.63) and are third in the league in both assists per set (12.47) and opponents hitting percentage (.151) and are averaging 13.25 kills per set and are hitting .199. The Mocs enter the postseason having recorded 2,395 digs in 34 matches and are just 96 digs shy of tying the school's single-season dig mark of 2,491 set by the 1991 squad.
Saint Leo, who is 23-10 overall on the season, is paced by the play of junior outside hitter Lauren Campbell and junior outside hitter Twani Warren. Campbell, who was named a Second-Team All-SSC performer, is averaging 3.35 kills and 2.53 digs per set and her 368 kills is fourth-most in the SSC, while Warren is averaging 2.74 kills and 2.15 digs per set and she leads the teams in aces with 37 and is second in blocks with 62.
Other key players for the Lions are senior setter Jaclyn Mailoto, junior right side hitter Alexa Griffith-Hardy and junior libero Yaidimar Santiago. Mailoto, who was named a First-Team All-SSC selection, leads the SSC and is seventh nationally in assists per set (11.92) and she has also recorded 225 digs and 36 digs, while Griffith-Hardy, who was named to the SSC All-Newcomer Team, is hitting .347 and averages 2.20 kills per set and Santiago, who was also named to the SSC All-Newcomer Team, averages 4.71 digs per set, which is fourth-best in the latest SSC statistics.
As a team, SLU is second in the league in hitting percentage (.257), kills per set (13.89) and leads the league in both aces (1.68) and assists per set (13.16) and is second in opponents hitting percentage as the Lions' foes are hitting just .147 on the year.
The winner of Thursday's FSC-SLU match will meet the winner of the Tampa-Kentucky State quarterfinal in the second regional semifinal match on Friday at 7 p.m.
All NCAA South Regional matches will be streamed through UT's website at TampaSpartans.tv, as the host Spartans will also offer free live stats for all matches.
Fans may purchase tickets at the gate for $10 (adults), and $6 (students and senior citizens). Children under 12 will be admitted free. Visitor parking is available in the parking garage north of the Martinez Center on the UT campus.
Complete Moccasin NCAA D-II South Regional Tournament Notes
Click here for the 2013 NCAA Division II Volleyball Tournament program
NCAA Division II South Regional Tournament homepage
NCAA Tournament Brackets: INTERACTIVE - PRINTABLE
