Box Score LAKELAND - Florida Southern opened play here Thursday evening in the South Regional Crossover by posting an impressive three-set victory over No. 22 ranked West Florida (25-12, 25-20, 25-18) at Jenkins Field House.
The Moccasins, who are ranked 25th in the latest AVCA Division II Coaches' Poll, improved to 13-4 overall on the season and earned its second straight victory over an nationally ranked foe this week as they collected a five-set win on Monday in West Palm Beach over No. 18 Palm Beach Atlantic. UWF fell to 16-3 overall on the season.
"I am thrilled to get a win tonight against a very good West Florida team," Moccasin head coach Jill Stephens said. "We did the little things well tonight and were very efficient on offense once again."
In the victory, Moccasin senior outside hitter Kate Stromberg (Lexington, Ky.) achieved a milestone as she became the 21st player in school history to record 1,000 career kills as she slammed home her 8th kill of the match in the third set to push FSC within 5-3. She entered Thursday's match needing just eight kills to reach the 1,000 career kill plateau.
In addition to joining the 1,000 Kill Club, Stromberg also became just the eighth player in program history to record 1,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs. In her career as a Moc, Stromberg has now recorded 1,003 kills and 1,045 digs.
"It feels awesome. I am just glad to be part of the program and I'm happy I've been able to contribute to making us successful the past four years," Stromberg said when asked about reaching the 1,000 Kill-1,000 Dig Club milestone.
On the night, Stromberg finished with a match-high 11 kills, added eight digs, two solo blocks and hit .455 in the win. In addition to Stromberg, junior right side hitter Kendall Marotti (LaBelle, Fla.) and freshman outside hitterAnna Tovo (Aiken, S.C.) each added eight kills and hit a combined .406 in the win. Marotti hit .389 and Tovo hit .429.
The Mocs finished the match hitting .374 as they recorded 43 kills and had just six attack errors on its 99 attack attempts. It is the sixth time this season the Mocs have hit over .300 in a match.
Sophomore middle blocker Rachel Mostert (Clearwater, Fla.) added seven kills, three blocks and hit .500 in the win, while junior middle blocker Kayshia Brady (Welaka, Fla.) had five kills, two blocks and hit .455 for the match.
Defensively, the Mocs held UWF to an .091 hitting percentage and outblocked the Argonauts, 7-3. Marotti led the way defensively with a match-high 13 digs, while redshirt senior setter Ali Skayhan (Beaverton, Ore.) had nine digs, two blocks and 35 assists.
The first set belonged to the Mocs as they jumped out to a 7-3 lead and led 13-5 when UWF used a 4-2 run to pull within 15-9 following a service error by Marotti. After that error, the Mocs would score 10 of the set's final 13 points to post a 25-12 win. In the set, FSC hit .455 and held UWF to a -.027 attack percentage.
In the second set, FSC jumped out to an early 4-2 lead, before UWF used a 6-3 run to take an 8-7 lead. The Mocs, though, would respond with a 9-4 run capped by a Stromberg kill to push its lead to 16-12. The Argos would score three of the next four points to pull within 17-15 following a kill by Sarah Scott. The Mocs would answer by scoring seven of the next 11 points to push its lead to 24-19 on a kill by Tovo. A kill by Cora Bidlak pushed UWF within four at 24-20, before an attack error by Bidlak sealed the Mocs 25-20 set win. In the second set, the Mocs outhit UWF, .303 to .125.
Trailing 2-0 in the match, the Argos jumped to an early 5-2 lead in the third set, before the Mocs responded with a 6-2 scoring run capped by a Brady kill to take an 8-7 lead. The teams would then take with the lead until the Mocs used a 4-0 run to turn a 10-9 deficit into a 13-10 lead. The Argos would rally to score the next two points to pull within 13-12, but the Mocs answered with a 6-4 scoring run capped by a Stromberg kill to push out to a 19-15 advantage. That would be as close as UWF would get in the set as the Mocs closed out the set and the match by scoring six of the final nine points to seal it 25-18 third set win. In the third and final set, FSC outhit the Argos, .364 to .182.
UWF, who had its four-match win streak snapped with Thursday's loss, was paced by nine kills from Bidlack. In addition to Bidlack, Carol Siqueira and Corisha Smith added seven kills in the match, while KC Dobbins had a double-double of 16 assists and 10 digs and Colleen Starrs had 10 digs and three aces.
The one area where the Argos led on the stat sheet was in service aces as they finished with five on the night, while the Mocs had four, all of which were recorded by Langley. The four aces pushed her season total to 31.
FSC will continue action in the South Regional Crossover on Friday, Oct. 17 as they face North Alabama at 12:30 p.m. and conclude the second day of the crossover event with a 7:30 p.m. match against Lee (Tenn.) University. The Mocs will face Valdosta State in the final day of the crossover event on Saturday, Oct. 18 at 5 p.m.
Here is the schedule for Friday's first full day of the South Regional Crossover:
Friday, October 17
10 a.m. - Saint Leo vs. #22 West Florida (Court 1)
10 a.m. - Eckerd vs. Valdosta State (Court 2)
12:30 p.m. - Florida Southern vs. North Alabama (Court 1)
12:30 p.m. - #1 Tampa vs. Lee University (Court 2)
2:30 p.m. - Eckerd vs. #22 West Florida (Court 1)
4:30 p.m. - Saint Leo vs. North Alabama (Court 2)
5 p.m. - #1 Tampa vs. Valdosta State (Court 1)
7:30 p.m. - #25 Florida Southern vs. Lee University (Court 1)
Court 1 - Main court @ Jenkins Field House
Court 2 - Aux. court adjacent to main court @ Jenkins Field House
