DENVER - One week after winning three out of four matches at its season opening FSC/Terrace Hotel Classic in Lakeland, the Florida Southern Volleyball team will hit the road this weekend for four matches here in two days against nationally ranked foes at the Colorado Premier Challenge hosted by Metro State University and Regis University.
The Colorado Premier Challenge is one of the top in-season volleyball tournaments in Division II as this year's field features nine teams that are ranked and two teams receiving votes in this week's latest AVCA Division II Coaches' Poll. Included in this year's field are six-time defending D-II National Champion Concordia-St. Paul and defending D-II National Runners-up Tampa.
FSC is making its fourth appearance at the Colorado Premier Challenge and first since 2011 when they finished with a 2-2 record. The Mocs have posted a 6-6 record all-time in the event and has had two second place finishes and has had six players named to the All-Tournament Team.
The Mocs, who are 3-1 on the season, open this year's Colorado Premier Challenge with a 2 p.m. EDT on Friday, Sept. 13 match against fourth-ranked Concordia-St. Paul (4-1), who has won the past six NCAA Division II national championships. FSC is 0-2 all-time against the Golden Bears, including falling in three sets (25-15, 25-15, 25-19) in its opening match of the 2011 Premier Challenge. Concordia is making its eighth appearance in the event and has posted a 26-6 record and has won three titles and has had a record 22 All-Tournament selections.
FSC's second match-up of the day on Friday will feature the Mocs facing 15th-ranked Truman State (3-1) at 5:30 p.m. EDT. The Mocs are 1-2 all-time against the Bulldogs and they haven't faced Truman on the volleyball court since falling in a five-set thriller in Maryville, Mo., in 2007. In that match, Truman won 34-32, 29-31, 30-28, 25-30, 9-15. The Bulldogs are making just their second ever appearance in the Colorado Premier Challenge and first since 2003 when they went 2-2.
Following the two matches in pool play on Friday, the tournament will get reseeded for two more matches on Saturday, with the top team from each of the four polls advancing to the Gold bracket, the second place teams will be put in the Silver bracket and the third place teams will be placed in the Bronze bracket. On Saturday, FSC will face either of these four teams from Pool 4 - No. 3 Nebraska-Kearney (4-0), No. 11 Angelo State (4-0) or the host school, Metro State (3-1), before completing the tournament later that same day. (Click here for the complete 2013 Colorado Premier Challenge schedule).
Last weekend, the Mocs opened the 2013 season by posting three wins in four matches at its season opening FSC/Terrace Hotel Classic at Jenkins Field House. FSC opened the tournament with a 3-0 win over Anderson last Friday afternoon, before suffering a four-set loss to Northwood in the final match on the first day of the event. Last Saturday, FSC rebounded to post back-to-back three set wins over Belmont Abbey and Wisconsin-Parkside.
Junior outside hitter Kate Stromberg (Lexington, Ky.) and sophomore setter Kendall Marotti (LaBelle, Fla.) were both named to the six-member FSC/Terrace Hotel Classic All-Tournament Team after leading the way for the Mocs. On the weekend, Stromberg recorded a team-high 40 kills and was tied for second in digs with 56 and recorded two double-doubles, while Marotti ran the Mocs offense efficiently as she recorded 154 assists, 49 digs, five aces and eight blocks and hit .462. In addition, Marotti recorded three double-doubles in four matches.
Other strong performers for the Mocs on the opening weekend were senior middle blocker Dominique Hale (Kingman, Ariz.), junior right side hitter Gabby Fernandez (Tampa, Fla.), junior libero Catherine Brusie (North Branch, Mich.), sophomore middle blocker Kayshia Brady (Welaka, Fla.) and freshman outside hitter Brindl Langley (Camas, Wash.).
For the weekend, Hale had 27 kills, hit .290 and had eight blocks, Fernandez recorded 35 kills, hit .239 and had 29 digs, Brusie, who made her FSC debut after playing the past two years at Winthrop, led the team with 61 digs and had four aces, Brady recorded 37 kills, hit .261 and led the team with 10 blocks and Langley, who made her collegiate debut for the Mocs, had 31 kills and 56 digs and recorded a double-double of 11 kills and 18 digs against Northwood.
Following this weekend's action, the Mocs will remain on the road as they will travel to Saint Leo next Saturday, Sept. 21 for two matches at the SLU Classic. FSC will face Cedarville (Ohio) at 9 a.m. and South Dakota School of Mines at 3 p.m. at the event hosted by Saint Leo University.
Listed below are the pools and schedule for the 2013 Colorado Premier Challenge hosted by Metro State and Regis University.
| Pool I |
Pool II |
Pool III |
Pool IV |
| #4 Concordia-St. Paul (4-1) |
#1 Tampa (4-0) |
#14 SW Minnesota State (2-2) |
#3 Nebraska-Kearney (4-0) |
| #15 Truman State (3-1) |
#9 West Texas A&M (5-0) |
#17 West Florida (3-1) |
#11 Angelo State (4-0) |
| Florida Southern (3-1) |
#21 Regis (2-2) |
RV Adams State (2-2) |
RV Metro State (3-1) |
Match Schedule -
Friday, Sept. 13 - Pool Play (All times listed are EDT)
2 p.m. - Concordia-St. Paul vs. Florida Southern (@Metro State)
2 p.m. - Tampa vs. West Texas A&M (@Regis)
2 p.m. - Southwest Minnesota St. vs. Adams State (@Regis)
2 p.m. - Nebraska-Kearney vs. Angelo State (@Metro State)
5:30 p.m. - Truman State vs. Florida Southern (@Metro State)
5:30 p.m. - Regis vs. West Texas A&M (@Regis)
5:30 p.m. - West Florida vs. Adams State (@Regis)
5:30 p.m. - Metro State vs. Angelo State (@Metro State)
9 p.m. - Concordia-St. Paul vs. Truman State (@Metro State)
9 p.m. - Regis vs. Tampa (@Regis)
9 p.m. - Southwest Minnesota St. vs. West Florida (@Regis)
9 p.m. - Metro State vs. Nebraska-Kearney (@Regis)
Saturday, Sept. 14 - Division Play
10:30 a.m. - Gold: Pool II #1 vs. Pool III #1 (@Regis)
10:30 a.m. - Silver: Pool II #2 vs. Pool III #2 (@Metro State)
10:30 a.m. - Bronze: Pool II #3 vs. Pool III #3 (@Metro State)
1 p.m. - Gold: Pool I #1 vs. Pool IV #1 (@Regis)
1 p.m. - Silver: Pool I #2 vs. Pool IV #2 (@Metro State)
1 p.m. - Bronze: Pool I #3 vs. Pool IV #3 (@Metro State)
3:30 p.m. - Silver: 3rd Place (@Metro State)
3:30 p.m. - Bronze: 3rd Place (@Metro State)
6 p.m. - Gold: 3rd Place (@Regis)
6 p.m. - Silver: 1st Place (@Metro State)
6 p.m. - Bronze: 1st Place (@Metro State)
8 p.m. - Gold: Championship (@Regis)
Click here for live stats of FSC's tournament matches at Metro State
Click here for the 2013 Colorado Premier Challenge homepage
