SAINT LEO - Florida Southern continued its winning ways here Saturday afternoon as the Moccasins used a balance offensive attack for the second straight match to post a four-set victory over South Dakota School of Mines (25-20, 25-17, 22-25, 25-18) in its final match of the Saint Leo Lions Volleyball Classic at the Bowman Center on the SLU campus.

With the victory, the Mocs, who received 13 votes in this week's latest AVCA Division II Coaches' Poll, improved to 7-3 overall and ran its win streak to four consecutive matches, while South Dakota School of Mines, who picked up a five-set win on Friday of FSC's Sunshine State Conference rival, Saint Leo, fell to 4-9 on the year.

One match after hitting .225 and getting seven or more kills from five players in its four-set win earlier in the day against Cedarville, the Mocs once again used a balanced offensive attack as seven players had five or more kills and the Mocs hit .235 as a team in the win. In addition to a balanced offense, the Mocs defense also played strong as they recorded 93 digs, including a match-high 24 from junior libero Catherine Brusie (North Branch, Mich.), 10 total team blocks as FSC recorded 20 assisted blocks and they limited SDMST to a .165 hitting percentage.

In the win over the Hardrockers, junior outside hitter Kate Stromberg (Lexington, Ky.) led the way offensively with 10 kills and added 16 digs for her fourth double-double of the season, while sophomore middle blocker Kayshia Brady (Welaka, Fla.) had nine kills and hit .316. Junior Gabby Fernandez (Tampa, Fla.) had eight kills and eight digs and freshman middle blocker Rachel Mostert (Clearwater, Fla.) slammed home a career-high nine kills and hit .467 for the Mocs.

Other Mocs that recorded five or more kills in the win included sophomore setter Kendall Marotti (LaBelle, Fla.), who had eight kills and added a career-high 19 digs and 41 assists for her team-leading sixth double-double, while freshman outside hitter Brindl Langley (Camas, Wash.) had seven kills and 16 digs and senior middle blocker Dominique Hale (Kingman, Ariz.) had five kills and six blocks in the victory.

In the first set, FSC jumped out to a 10-8 lead, but SDSMT used a 2-0 run to tie the set at 10. The Mocs, though, answered with a 6-2 run to push its lead to 16-12 following an attack error by the Hardrockers. SDSMT would pull within 18-17 following a kill by Justine Blade, but FSC would close the set on a 7-3 run to post a 25-20 win and take a 1-0 lead in the match. In the match, FSC hit .182 and had 15 kills, while SDSMT hit .094 with 11 kills.

FSC jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the second set and led 18-9 when the Hardrockers used a 6-3 run to pull within 21-15. The run was aided by three attack errors from the Mocs. FSC, though, would close out the set by scoring four of the final six points to post a 25-17 win and take a 2-0 lead in the match.

The third set was a back-and-forth affair as neither team led by more than four points. In the set, SDSMT jumped out to a 13-9 lead, but the Mocs answered with a 10-5 run capped by a kill from Stromberg to take a 19-18 lead. The lead was the first of the set for the Mocs. Following Stromberg's kill, the Hardrockers retied the set on the next serve thanks to a kill from Hannah Benedix, before FSC used a 3-1 run to take a 22-20 run capped by a Mostert kill. SDSMT, though, would score the set's final five points to post the 25-20 win and force a fourth set. The Hardrockers scoring run was aided by two attack errors from the Mocs and two kills from Hannah Redman.

In the fourth set, the Mocs offense hit .325 as they recorded 17 kills and only four attack errors to post a 25-18 win to seal its third straight fourth set victory. SDSMT led 7-6 early in the set before FSC used 15-6 scoring run to take a 21-13 lead. The run was keyed by three kills from Mostert and two kills apiece from Brady and Marotti. SDSMT, though, wouldn't go away as they used a 5-1 run to pull within 22-18. The Mocs would answer by scoring three of the set's final four points, including sealing the win with an assisted block by Brady and Stromberg.

SDSMT was paced by 13 kills and 19 digs from Redman, while Blade added 12 kills and eight digs in the loss.

The Mocs will return to action on Tuesday, Sept. 24 as they open Sunshine State Conference play at home against Saint Leo. The match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. in Jenkins Field House.