Box Score TAMPA - Florida Southern saw its 2013 season come to an end here Friday evening in the semifinals of the South Regional Tournament as the fourth-seeded Moccasins fell in three sets to No. 1 ranked and top-seeded Tampa (23-25, 20-25, 17-25) at the Bob Martinez Athletics Center on the UT campus.
The Mocs, who finished the season with a 22-14 overall, lost for the third consecutive year in the regional semifinals to Tampa as they fell in three sets in last year's regional semifinals. The Mocs, who ended the season winning three of its final four matches, including defeating Saint Leo in Thursday's regional quarterfinal match, are now 20-30 all-time in 27 appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
"Tampa is a very, very good team. They are super athletic and ball controlled well tonight," Mocs head coach Jill Stephens said in the postmatch press conference. "I am proud of my team. We fought all night, we just have to become more consistent as a volleyball team."
Friday's match also marked the final one for the Mocs lone senior, middle blocker Dominique Hale (Kingman, Ariz.). Hale finished with two kills, two blocks and hit .250 in her final collegiate match. The Mocs other senior, setter Ali Skayhan (Beaverton, Ore.) sat out this season due to injury and will return next season after earning a medical hardship in 2013.
"Dom is a leader for our team and an outstanding young lady and I'm proud of her," Stephens said when asked about Hale.
Leading the way for the Mocs offensive in the match was sophomore middle blocker Kayshia Brady (Welaka, Fla.) and freshman outside hitter Brindl Langley (Camas, Wash.) each had eight kills in the loss. In addition to those two players, junior right side hitter Gabby Fernandez (Tampa, Fla.) added seven kills and six digs and hit .250 for the Mocs.
In addition to Brady, Langley and Fernandez, junior outside hitter Kate Stromberg (Lexington, Ky.) had six kills and five digs, while junior libero Catherine Brusie (North Branch, Mich.) had nine digs and finishes the season with 621, which is second-most on the school's single season charts.
The Mocs jumped out to an 8-3 lead in the opening set, before the Spartans responded with a 10-3 run to tie the score at 13 following a kill by Berkley Whaley. The Mocs, though, would respond with a 5-3 run capped by back-to-back kills from Fernandez and Stromberg to take an 18-15 lead. UT came right back with a 6-0 run to take a 21-18 lead. The Mocs, though, wouldn't go away as they scored three straight points, including back-to-back kills from Stromberg and Langley to tie the set at 21. UT would close out the set by scoring four of the final six points to earn a 25-23 win. In the set, the Mocs hit .237 as Brady and Stromberg each had four kills, while UT hit .351 as Whaley had five of her match-high 14 kills in the set.
In the second set, UT scored the first two points and led 3-1 when the Mocs used a 9-5 run to take a 10-8 lead. The Spartans, though, responded with an 8-1 run to push out to a 16-11 advantage. The lead would grow to 18-13, before the Mocs scored two straight points to pull within 18-15. UT answered with a 5-1 run to push its lead to 23-16, but the Mocs used a 4-1 run to pull within 24-20, but UT sealed the win on a kill by Holly Reschke. In the set, the Mocs hit just .114 and had 11 kills, while UT hit .167 and had 13 kills.
The Mocs jumped in front 3-0 in the third set and led 5-2 when the Spartans used a 5-2 run to tie the set at 7. After a kill by Jessica Wagner gave UT an 8-7 lead, the Mocs scored two consecutive points to take a 9-8 lead. The Spartans, though, would respond with an 8-1 run to take a 16-11 lead. The Mocs would score three of the next four points to pull within 17-13, but UT answered with a 5-0 run to push out to a 22-13 lead. FSC wouldn't go away without a fight as they scored four of the next five points to pull within 23-17. The run was capped by an ace from Fernandez and a kill by sophomore setter Kendall Marotti (LaBelle, Fla.). UT would respond by scoring the final two points to seal its victory and run its winning streak to 24 straight matches.
UT, who improved to 31-1 overall on the season with the win, was paced by 14 kills and a .333 hitting percentage from Berkley Whaley, while Jessica Wagner added 11 kills, six blocks and hit .500 to pace the Spartans attack. Four of Wagner's six blocks came in the second set as the Spartans recorded six total blocks in the set as a team.
"Wagner played one of the best matches I've seen her play," the Mocs coach added. "She played big tonight."
For the match, the Mocs hit .159 and had 34 kills, 41 digs and six blocks, while UT hit .302 as they had 46 kills, 49 digs and 11 total blocks. In addition, both teams each had five aces on the night.
The Spartans will now face the No. 6 seeded West Florida (28-7) in Saturday's South Regional championship match at 7 p.m., for a trip to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and a spot in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight. UWF advanced to the finals with a four-set victory over Rollins in Friday's other semifinal match.
Click here for the Mocs postmatch press conference following the match with Tampa
