Box Score DENVER - Florida Southern returned to the win column here Saturday afternoon as the Moccasins picked up a three-set victory over Metro State (25-19, 25-19, 25-19) in a Bronze Division semifinal match at the Colorado Premier Challenge held at the Auraria Events Center on the Metro State campus.
The win, which improved to the Mocs to 4-3 on the season, advanced FSC to a 7 p.m. EDT match-up against ninth-ranked West Texas A&M (6-2) in the first place match of the Bronze Division at Metro State. West Texas A&M advanced to the match with a five-set victory over Adams State in the other Bronze Division semifinal. Metro State, who will face Adams State in the Bronze Division third place match, fell to 3-4 with the loss.
In the victory over Metro State, who is one of the two host schools for the Colorado Premier Challenge, the Mocs offense hit a very efficient .358 as they recorded 41 kills and had just seven attack errors, including 11 kills and a .360 hitting percentage from freshman outside hitter Brindl Langley (Camas, Wash.) and a defense that held the Roadrunners to an .068 hitting percentage and had five blocks.
Along with Langley, sophomore middle blocker Kayshia Brady (Welaka, Fla.) had nine kills and hit .353, while sophomore setter Kendall Marotti (LaBelle, Fla.) added eight kills, 27 assists, six digs, three blocks and hit a career-high .889 as she didn't record an attack error in nine attempts.
The Mocs jumped out to a 12-6 lead in the opening set, before MSU used a 3-0 run to push within 12-9 following an ace by Brandi Torr. FSC, though, responded with an 8-5 run to push its lead to 20-14. MSU would score the next two points to move within 20-16, but the Mocs closed the set on a 5-3 run to post a 25-19 win. In the set, the Mocs hit .387 and had 13 kills, while MSU hit .030 and recorded three of their match-high five service aces.
In the second set, the Roadrunners jumped out to a 10-6 lead, before FSC used a 10-2 run to take a 16-12 lead. The run was keyed by three kills from Langley. After an error by the Mocs stopped their run, FSC would once again strike for an 8-4 run capped by a kill from junior right side hitter Gabby Fernandez (Tampa, Fla.) to push its lead to 24-17. MSU would score the next two points to drop FSC's lead to 24-19, before Brady slammed home her fourth kill of the set to seal the Mocs 25-19 win and take a 2-0 lead in the match.
The Mocs offense was in high gear in the third and final set as they finished hitting .519 as they had 15 kills and recorded three blocks. In the set, FSC jumped out to a 10-7 lead, before MSU answered with a 9-5 run to take a 16-15 edge following an attack error by senior middle blocker Dominique Hale (Kingman, Ariz.). That would be the Roadrunners final lead of the set, though, as the Mocs came right back and closed the set on a 10-3 run to post the 25-19 win to seal its first win in the tournament and its fourth three-set win of the season. For the set, Langley recorded five kills, while Marotti and Brady each had three.
For the match, five of the seven Mocs that recorded an attack hit over .300, including Fernandez recording four kills and hitting .364, while Hale also had four kills and hit .300.
Alysa Heath recorded 10 kills, while Kylee Hoagland and Kylie Haun each had five kills in the loss for the Roadrunners. Haun also added 11 digs and Alex Green chipped in with 10 in the setback.
In addition to the three blocks from Marotti, Hale added three blocks, including a solo block and Brady chipped in with two blocks.
