Box Score MELBOURNE - Florida Southern opened the second half of Sunshine State Conference play here Thursday by collecting a three-set victory over Florida Tech (25-18, 25-10, 25-20) at the Clemente Center on the Florida Tech campus.
The 18th-ranked Moccasins, who improved to 17-4 overall and 8-1 in the SSC, extended its win streak to 10 consecutive matches and its SSC win streak to five straight matches. The 10 match win streak is the longest for the Mocs since winning nine consecutive matches during the 2012 season.
Thursday's match, which was the first for the Mocs since posting four straight three-set victories last weekend at the South Regional Crossover in Lakeland, was keyed by 11 service aces and eight team blocks from the Mocs as its offense struggled on the night as they hit .176 for the match. The .176 hitting percentage was its third lowest of the season. FSC entered the match second in the league and seventh nationally in hitting percentage (.272).
On the night, the Mocs offense was paced by eight kills and a .533 hitting percentage from senior outside hitterKate Stromberg (Lexington, Ky.), while freshman outside hitter Anna Tovo (Aiken, S.C.) added six kills in the win.
The Mocs strong serving was aided by a career-high five service aces from Stromberg, while senior libero Catherine Brusie (North Branch. Mich.) and senior defensive specialist Jasmine Childress (Muncie, Ind.) each had two aces in the win. On defense, freshman middle blocker Allie Geary (Deland, Fla.) had three blocks, while Stromberg, redshirt senior setter Ali Skayhan (Beaverton, Ore.) and sophomore middle blocker Rachel Mostert (Clearwater, Fla.) each had two blocks on the night.
In the first set, the Mocs jumped out to a 10-2 lead, when FIT used a 6-4 run to pull within 14-8. FSC, though, would answer with an 8-5 run capped by a Tovo kill to push its lead to 22-13. The Panthers would respond with a 5-1 run to drop FSC's lead to 23-18, before the Mocs scored the final two points of the set to seal it 25-18 win. FSC had three aces and 10 kills in the set, while FIT had two aces and nine kills in the set.
The second set belonged to the Mocs as they hit .417 and recorded 12 kills and used five service aces, including three from Stromberg, to its advantage to post a 25-10 win and take a 2-0 lead in the match. While FSC's offense hit .417, the Mocs defense held FIT to an .050 hitting percentage.
Trailing 2-0 in the match, the Panthers opened the third set by scoring seven of the first eight points to take a 7-1 lead. The lead would grow to 11-4, before the Mocs responded with a 14-4 run keyed by nine errors from the Panthers and capped by a kill from Tovo to take an 18-15 lead. FIT, though, would answer by scoring three of the next five points to pull within 20-18. A kill from Tovo and a service ace from sophomore outside hitter Brindl Langley (Camas, Wash.) would help jump start a 5-2 run by the Mocs to close out the set and post a 25-20 win to seal its 10th consecutive victory and its second win this season over the Mocs. In the final set, both teams each hit .000 and combined to record nine total team blocks as FIT had five blocks and FSC had four.
Florida Tech (9-14 overall, 1-8 SSC) was paced offensively by eight kills from Milli Tapuskovic, while Alea Hamm added five kills and three blocks in the loss. Tapuskovic also added three blocks and Cheyanne Kauffman added nine digs for the Panthers.
The Mocs will look to extend its win streak to 11 straight as they continue on the road with a 7 p.m. match on Friday, Oct. 24 in Boca Raton against Lynn (10-9 overall, 3-5 SSC). FSC opened SSC play with a 3-0 win over the Fighting Knights in Lakeland on Sept. 19.
