Box Score LAKELAND - 25th-ranked Florida Southern closed out play here Friday night on the second day of the South Regional Crossover at Jenkins Field House by collecting a hard-fought three-set win over Lee University (25-21, 25-16, 25-22).
The Moccasins, who improved to 3-0 in the South Regional Crossover and 15-4 overall on the season, extended its winning streak to eight consecutive matches and ran its homecourt win streak to 10 straight as FSC is 10-0 at home this season, with nine of those victories coming in straight sets.
Friday night's match was a tight contest throughout as it featured 17 ties and four lead changes, including a combined 16 ties and four lead changes in the first and third sets.
In the win over Lee, who also battle top-ranked Tampa tight earlier in the day on Friday, the Mocs recorded 20 more kills than the Flames (47-27), but kept Lee in the game thanks to 11 service errors in the match. The Flames, who fell to 6-14 with the loss, also helped keep the match close as they recorded seven service aces.
The Mocs, who finished the match with a .281 attack percentage, was paced offensively on the night by sophomore middle blocker Rachel Mostert (Clearwater, Fla.) as she tied a career-high with 11 kills, added four blocks and hit .500 for the match. In addition to Mostert, junior right side hitter Kendall Marotti (LaBelle, Fla.) added nine kills, six digs and hit .529, while freshman middle blocker Allie Geary (Deland, Fla.) had eight kills, four blocks and hit .800 as she didn't record an errors in 10 attack attempts.
While its offense played a role in Friday's victory, so too, did its defense as FSC outblocked Lee, 8-3, recorded 70 digs in the three sets and forced the Flames into 17 attack errors.
The Mocs defense effort was aided by 19 digs from senior libero Catherine Brusie (North Branch, Mich.). In addition to Brusie, redshirt senior setter Ali Skayhan (Beaverton, Ore.) recorded her 11th double-double of the season as she had 14 digs to go along with 38 assists.
In the opening set, FSC jumped out to an 11-4 lead and led 12-7 when the Flames used a 3-1 scoring run to pull within 13-10. The Mocs, though, would answer with a 5-0 run capped by a kill from senior outside hitter Kate Stromberg (Lexington, Ky.) to take an 18-10 lead. The Flames came right back and used a 9-3 run capped by a Sarah Davis ace to pull within 21-20. That would be as close as Lee would get as the Mocs would score four of the set's final five points to seal its 25-21 win. In the first set, the Mocs hit .311, while Lee hit .140, but recorded three of its seven aces in the set.
The second set was mostly controlled by the Mocs as they jumped out to an early 4-2 lead, before Lee scored six of the nine points to take an 8-7 lead. The Mocs would respond with a 10-3 scoring run capped by an ace from Brusie to move in front 17-11. The Flames would two of the next four points to pull within 19-13, before the Mocs closed the set by scoring six of the final nine points to seal its 25-16 win and take a 2-0 lead in the match. In the second set, FSC hit .314 as a team and held Lee to an .000 hitting percentage.
Trailing 2-0 in the match, Lee scored the first two points of the third set and led 8-6 when the Mocs used a 12-4 scoring capped by a Geary kill to push out to an 18-12 lead. The Flames, though, wouldn't go away with a fight as they answered the Mocs scoring run with a run of their own to pull within 22-18. Back-to-back kills from sophomore outside hitter Jessica Sullivan (Lemoore, Calif.) pushed the Mocs lead to 24-18, but once again, Lee responded by scoring four straight points to pull within 24-22. That would be as close as the Flames would get as the Mocs closed out the set and match with a kill from Geary to post the 25-22 set win.
Lee, who was meeting FSC in volleyball for the first time, was paced by Latric Johnson as the Key Largo, Fla., native recorded a team-high seven kills and added nine digs in the loss. Along with Johnson, Brooke Wilsman and Lauren Williams each added five kills, while Stephanie Hernandez had a match-high 20 digs for the Flames.
Brusie and Davis combined for six of the matches 12 aces as Brusie led the Mocs with three aces and Davis had three to pace Lee.
The Mocs will conclude play in the South Regional Crossover by facing Valdosta State in a 5 p.m. match on Saturday, Oct. 18.
Here are the results from Friday's first full day of the South Regional Crossover:
Friday, October 17
Saint Leo 3, #22 West Florida 2 (24-26, 25-19, 25-22, 23-25, 15-7)
Eckerd 3, Valdosta State 2 (25-22, 16-25, 21-25, 25-19, 15-12)
#25 Florida Southern 3, North Alabama 0 (25-20, 25-14, 25-18)
#1 Tampa 3, Lee University 0 (25-15, 25-19, 25-19)
#22 West Florida 3, Eckerd 1 (25-27, 25-15, 25-20, 25-20)
Saint Leo 3, North Alabama 1 (16-25, 30-28, 25-13, 25-19)
#1 Tampa 3, Valdosta State 0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-18)
#25 Florida Southern 3, Lee University 0 (25-21, 25-16, 25-22)
Here is Saturday's South Regional Crossover schedule:
Saturday, October 18
11 a.m. - #1 Tampa vs. #22 West Florida (Court 1)
11 a.m. - Saint Leo vs. Valdosta State (Court 2)
1 p.m. - Eckerd vs. Lee University (Court 1)
3 p.m. - #1 Tampa vs. North Alabama (Court 2)
5 p.m. - #25 Florida Southern vs. Valdosta State (Court 1)
5 p.m. - Saint Leo vs. Lee University (Court 2)
Court 1 - Main court @ Jenkins Field House
Court 2 - Aux. court adjacent to main court @ Jenkins Field House
