SAINT LEO - Florida Southern returned to action after a six-day layoff here Saturday morning by posting a four-set victory over Cedarville (25-7, 25-21, 25-22, 25-20) in its first of two matches at the Saint Leo Classic held at the Bowman Center on the SLU campus.

With the victory, the Moccasins extend their win streak to three straight matches to improve to 6-3, while Cedarville falls to 3-10 on the year.

The Mocs win was keyed by a strong defense that recorded a total of 10 blocks, including six blocks from senior middle blocker Dominique Hale (Kingman, Ariz.) and 69 digs, including a career-high 24 digs by junior right side hitter Gabby Fernandez (Tampa, Fla.) and held Cedarville to an .057 hitting percentage.

Along with a strong defensive effort, the Mocs offense produced a balanced attack as five players recorded seven or more kills and hit .225 for the match.

Leading the way offensively for the Mocs was junior outside hitter Kate Stromberg (Lexington, Ky.), who had a match-high tying 11 kills and matched her career high with four blocks, while Hale added 10 kills and sophomore setter Kendall Marotti (LaBelle, Fla.) added eight kills, 38 assists and hit .583.

In addition to her career-high 24 digs, Fernandez added seven kills and hit ..316, while freshman outside hitter Brindl Langley (Camas, Wash.) also added seven kills and eight digs. Junior libero Catherine Brusie (North Branch, Mich.) chipped in with 16 digs in the victory.

Cedarville was paced by 11 kills from Hannah Wagner and 10 kills and eight digs from Abby Shelton. Angela Becker led Cedarville's defense with 21 digs.

The Mocs will conclude play in the Saint Leo Classic later in the day on Saturday as they face South Dakota School of Mines at 3 p.m. South Dakota School of Mines picked up a five-set win on Friday over Saint Leo, the tournament's host school.