LAKELAND - Florida Southern closed out play here Saturday evening in its season opening FSC/Terrace Hotel Classic by posting a three-set win over the University of Wisconsin-Parkside (25-16, 25-19, 25-15) at Jenkins Field House.

Prior to the match, UWP head coach Christine Paciero was presented with a game ball by Moccasin head coach Jill Stephens and former Moccasin head coach Lois Webb on winning her 100th career match in the Rangers opener on Friday against Anderson. Paciero was a two-year letterwinner for the Mocs in 1989 and 1990 and was a member of the school's national semifinalist team in 1990 that was coached by Webb. 

With the victory, the Moccasins finish with a 3-1 record in the tournament with its only loss coming in four sets on Friday night to Northwood, who finished with a 2-2 mark in the two-day event. No. 2 ranked Tampa was the only team to finish undefeated as they went 4-0, while UWP and Belmont Abbey each also went 2-2, Anderson went 0-4 and Kentucky State went 0-2.

In Saturday's final match against UWP, the Mocs used another balanced offensive attack as five players recorded five or more kills in the victory, including junior right side hitter Gabby Fernandez (Tampa, Fla.) leading the way with a match-high 11 kills. In addition to Fernandez, sophomore middle blocker Kayshia Brady (Welaka, Fla.) added nine kills and freshman outside hitter Brindl Langley (Camas, Wash.) chipped in with eight kills. For the match, FSC recorded 42 kills and hit .227, while UWP had 31 kills, but was forced into 17 attack errors and hit .118.

The Mocs finished the two-day tournament allowing its four opponents to hit a combined .104 in 13 sets. In the tournament, two of FSC's foes hit under .100, while no team hit better than the .118 UWP managed in Saturday's finale.

In the first set, the Mocs jumped to a 4-1 lead, before the Rangers used a 12-7 run to take a 13-11 lead. The run was capped by a kill from Lisa Gregerson. Following UWP's run, the Mocs answered by closing out the set on a 14-3 run, including scoring nine of the set's final 10 points to post the 25-16 win. FSC hit .242 in the set and recorded 12 kills, including three each from Fernandez and Langley.

The Mocs would continue its stellar play in the second set as they scored the set's first two points and led 13-6 when the Rangers used an 11-7 run to drop FSC's lead to 20-17. The run was aided by four Moccasin errors. That would be as close as UWP would get, though, as FSC closed out the set on a 5-2 run to post a 25-19 win and take a 2-0 lead in the match. The Mocs offense only hit .143 and committed six of its 13 attack errors in the second set.

In the final set, the Mocs dominated from the outset as they used a 12-5 run to turn a 1-1 tie into a 13-6 lead following an ace by Langley and a kill from Marotti. The Rangers would try to mount a comeback as they scored four of the next five points to pull within 14-10, but the Mocs responded by closing out the set and the match on an 11-5 run to post the 25-15 win and its second consecutive three-set victory.

"Our goal is to get better every time we step out on the court and I thought we responded well as a team following our loss last night," Mocs head coach Jill Stephens said. "I liked our tenaciousness and relentlessness today."

One player that played very well this weekend for the Mocs was sophomore setter Kendall Marotti (LaBelle, Fla.). For the weekend, Marotti, who was named to the FSC/Terrace Hotel All-Tournament Team, recorded 14 kills, 154 assists, 49 digs and eight blocks and hit .462 for FSC's four matches. In addition, she recorded three consecutive double-doubles to end the tournament, including 37 assists and 12 digs in the win over UWP.

"We have a young setter and I thought she did a great job this weekend," Stephens added. "I thought she did well at dispersing the ball and running the offense."

In addition to Marotti, junior outside hitter Kate Stromberg (Lexington, Ky.) was also named to the All-Tournament Team as she led the Mocs with 40 kills and was tied for second in digs with 56. She had two double-doubles and recorded 10 or more digs in all four matches.

UWP was paced by nine kills and nine digs from its All-Tournament Team honoree, Bridget Nickel. In addition to Nickel, Makenzie Fahnestock added six kills, while Lauren Hickson posted a double-double of 27 assists and 14 digs.

The Mocs defense also played well in the win over UWP as they recorded 67 digs, including a season-high 18 from junior libero Catherine Brusie (North Branch, Mich.) and they also had five blocks.

Another strength against UWP was its serving as they recorded six aces and finished the weekend with 22. Langley had three aces and Brusie added two against the Rangers.

Other members of the All-Tournament Team included Northwood senior outside hitter Juliia Pakhomenko and the University of Tampa duo of sophomore outside hitter Berkley Whaley and senior outside hitter Holly Reschke.

The Mocs will hit the road for the first time this season next weekend as they travel to Denver to play in the Premier Challenge, which is one of the top Division II in-season tournaments in the country. The Mocs will open the tournament on Friday, Sept. 13 against No. 1 ranked and six time defending NCAA D-II National Champion Concordia-St. Paul and 16th-ranked Truman State, before playing two more foes on Saturday depending on how they fare in their two pool play matches on Saturday. FSC will face Concordia-St. Paul at 2 p.m. ET and face Truman State at 5:30 p.m. ET.

Complete Results of FSC/Terrace Hotel Classic
Friday, Sept. 6
Wisconsin-Parkside 3, Anderson 2 (25-18, 25-22, 14-25, 25-27, 15-7)
#2 Tampa 3, Northwood 0 (27-25, 25-22, 25-12)
Belmont Abbey 3, Kentucky State 0 (25-16, 25-7, 25-18)
Florida Southern 3, Anderson 0 (25-17, 25-10, 25-18)
Wisconsin-Parkside 3, Kentucky State 0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-15)
#2 Tampa 3, Belmont Abbey 0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-16)
Northwood 3, Florida Southern (25-23, 26-24, 17-25, 25-20)
Saturday, Sept. 7
Northwood 3, Anderson 1 (25-19, 29-27, 22-25, 25-22)
#2 Tampa 3, Wisconsin-Parkside 0 (25-16, 25-14, 26-24)
Florida Southern 3, Belmont Abbey 0 (25-16, 25-22, 25-15)
#2 Tampa 3, Anderson 1 (25-16, 25-17, 16-25, 25-12)
Belmont Abbey 3, Northwood 1 (22-25, 27-25, 25-18, 25-17)
Florida Southern 3, Wisconsin-Parkside 0 (25-16, 25-19, 25-15)