Box Score LAKELAND - Florida Southern continued its hot play on its home court here Friday evening as the Moccasins posted a three-set victory over Barry (25-12, 28-26, 25-17) in Sunshine State Conference action at Jenkins Field House.
The victory, which improved the Mocs to 8-4 overall and 4-1 in the SSC on the season, was its sixth consecutive on its home court in straight sets to open the 2014 campaign. Additionally, seven of FSC's eight wins this season have come in straight sets, including all six of its home victories.
In Friday's win, the Mocs offense was once again balanced as five players recorded five or more kills, including junior right side hitter Kendall Marotti (LaBelle, Fla.) leading the way with nine kills and adding six digs and three blocks. In addition to Marotti, redshirt senior setter Ali Skayhan (Beaverton, Ore.) added eight kills, nine digs, 27 assists and hit a season-high .727, while senior outside hitter Kate Stromberg (Lexington, Ky.) added seven kills, five digs and three blocks in the victory.
While its offense was balanced, the Mocs defense and strong serving paved the way to the win as FSC finished the night with seven total team blocks, 40 digs and recorded nine service aces, including four in its 25-12 win in the opening set. It was the eighth match this season in which the Mocs had seven or more as they entered play on Friday second in the SSC in aces per set (1.85).
The Mocs defensive effort was paced by career night from freshman middle blocker Allie Geary (DeLand, Fla.) as she recorded a career-high seven blocks and also a career-high five kills and hit .455 in her first career collegiate start. Along with Geary, sophomore outside hitter Brindl Langley (Camas, Wash.) recorded a team-high 11 digs and tied a career high with four aces.
Barry, who has now lost four of its last five matches after opening the season 8-1, dropped its record to 9-5 overall and 2-3 in the SSC, was led on the night by Tashalyn Begon as she finished with a team-high eight kills, while Jayla Trombley added six kills in the loss and Jasmine Serna posted a double-double as she had 10 digs to go with 12 assists.
The first set was dominated by the Mocs as they jumped out to a 10-5 lead and didn't look back as they hit .406 as a team in the en route to posting a 25-12 win. After its 10-5 lead, the Buccaneers used a 3-1 run to pull within 11-8 following a kill by Trombley. That would be as close as the Bucs would get as the Mocs responded with a 12-2 run capped by a kill from Skayhan to push its lead to 23-10. BU would score two of the next three points to drop FSC's lead to 24-12, before Langley capped the win with a kill off a Skayhan assist. In the set, Marotti had four of her nine kills and Langley had eight of her 11 digs.
Unlike the first set, the second set was a back-and-forth affair as it featured 10 ties and three lead changes, including the Mocs turning a 21-17 deficit into a 25-24 lead that was capped by an ace from Langley. Following Langley's ace, the Bucs tied the set on an attack error by sophomore middle blocker Rachel Mostert (Clearwater, Fla.). The Mocs, though, retook the lead one point later on a service error by Trombley, before BU once again tied the set on a service error by Brusie. FSC would close out the set by scoring the final two points, including sealing the 28-26 win with a Skayhan ace. In the set, Barry outhit the Mocs, .226 to .140, but the Mocs had three aces to Barry's one ace.
FSC jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the third set, only to see the Bucs score three consecutive points to take a 3-2 lead. The Mocs, though, would respond with an 11-3 run capped by a Geary kill to push out to a 13-6 advantage. Barry would pull within 14-8, before the Mocs used a 6-3 scoring run to extend its lead to 20-11. BU, though, wouldn't go away as they as they scored four of the next five points to pull within 21-15, before the Mocs closed out the set and the match by scoring four of the final six points, including using a Marotti kill on match point to earn its 25-17 set win.
On the night, the Mocs finished hitting .245 as they had 39 kills and 14 attack errors on its 102 attack attempts and committed 10 service errors, while holding Barry to a .102 hitting percentage as the Bucs had 26 kills and 17 attack errors in the match and committed seven service errors.
The Mocs will continue its three-game homestand on Saturday afternoon as they host Nova Southeastern in a 4 p.m. match at Jenkins Field House. The Sharks fell to 8-6 overall and 3-2 in the SSC following its three-set loss (20-25, 21-25, 24-26) Friday night at Saint Leo.
