Box Score LAKELAND - Florida Southern made quick work here Tuesday evening of 21st-ranked Palm Beach Atlantic as the 16th-ranked Moccasins swept the Sailfish in three sets (25-22, 25-21, 25-8) in an important non-conference South Region match-up at Jenkins Field House.
With the victory, the Mocs, who are ranked No. 2 in the initial NCAA Division II South Regional rankings, closed out its regular season non-conference slate with a 10-3 record and improved its overall record to 20-5 and also earned its second win this season over the Sailfish, who are ranked third in the initial NCAA D-II South Regional rankings, as the Mocs collected a five-set win over PBA in West Palm Beach on Oct. 13. The victory also helped the Mocs achieve its third straight and 33rd all-time 20 win season.
"Since our tough emotional loss to Tampa, the No. 1 ranked team in the country last Friday, we rebounded well the next day against Eckerd and tonight was a really good challenge as they (PBA) are the No. 3 team in our region," Moccasin head coach Jill Stephens said following the match that lasted a little more less than 90 minutes. "I thought we did a nice job tonight at stepping up and playing well, because PBA is a very good team."
The eight points allowed by the Mocs in the third set were the fewest allowed to an opponent since holding Flagler to eight points in its final match of the FSC/Terrace Hotel Classic on Sept 6, 2014. Additionally, it was the fewest points scored by the Sailfish in a set since scoring five in the fifth set against Rollins in the first round of last season's NCAA Division II South Regional Tournament. The Sailfish lost that fifth set, 15-5 to the Tars.
In Tuesday's victory, the Mocs defense held the Sailfish to an -.008 hitting percentage and forced them into 28 attack errors. It marks the first time FSC has under an opponent to a negative hitting percentage since limiting North Alabama to a -.039 hitting percentage on Oct. 18, 2013.
Along with holding the Sailfish to a negative hitting percentage, the Mocs also outblocked PBA, 12-5, including a combined eight from sophomore middle blocker Rachel Mostert (Clearwater, Fla.) and junior right side hitterKendall Marotti (LaBelle, Fla.). Mostert finished the night with a match-high five blocks, while Marotti had four in the win. FSC also recorded 61 digs in the match, including a match-high 23 digs from senior libero Catherine Brusie (North Branch, Mich.).
"We blocked exceptionally well tonight," Stephens said. "Our players did a nice job of finding their attackers, lining up well and had a lot of one-on-blocking. That is something we worked hard on in practice and is paid off."
On offense, the Mocs finished with 36 kills and hit .174 on the night as five Moccasins recorded six or more kills in the win. Leading the way was senior outside hitter Kate Stromberg (Lexington, Ky.) and freshman outside hitterAnna Tovo (Aiken, S.C.) as they each had seven kills on the night, while Marotti, redshirt senior setter Ali Skayhan (Beaverton, Ore.) and junior middle blocker Kayshia Brady (Welaka, Fla.) recorded six kills apiece.
Tovo hit a team-high .333, while Marotti hit .312 and Skayhan hit .308 for the match.
The first set was the key to the entire match as it featured seven ties and five lead changes, but no lead change bigger than the one the Mocs had with the set tied at 22. Prior to tying the set at 22, the Mocs trailed by as much as four points in the set, before rallying behind the serving of senior defensive specialist Jasmine Childress(Muncie, Ind.) to turn a 22-19 deficit into a 25-22 win. Childress began the run with an ace to pull the Mocs within two points at 22-20 and FSC would move within a point on an attack error by PBA's Emma Ballantyne. The Mocs would tie the set on a kill from Marotti and take the lead following an attack error by the Sailfish's Faith Rohn. Following Rohn's error, Tovo gave the Mocs a 24-22 lead on a kill and Marotti and Mostert sealed the first set win as they assisted on a block off a ball hit by Rohn.
"Winning that first set was a great start, we knew if they won that set, we'd be in a hole, because when they (PBA) get on a roll, it is kind of scary at how well they feed off that energy," the Mocs coach added. "We knew we had to compete well early against them and when we were down 22-19 in that first set, we were able to stay composed and Jasmine came in and served some rockets."
In the opening set, FSC hit .200 as they had 15 kills, 16 digs and two aces, while PBA hit .054 as they had nine kills, 17 digs, three blocks and one ace.
FSC jumped out to an early 8-4 lead in the second set, before PBA used 3-2 run to pull within 10-7. The Mocs, though, would respond with an 8-4 run capped by a Marotti kill to push out to an 18-11 advantage. The Sailfish, who fell to 26-3 on the season with Tuesday's loss, would score 10 of the next 16 points capped by a kill from Katie Ballantyne to drop FSC's lead to 24-21. That would be as close as PBA would get as the Mocs sealed the 25-21 set win one point later on an attack error by the Sailfish's Emma Ballantyne. The Mocs outblocked PBA, 5-2 in the set and both teams hit under .100.
The Mocs jumped out to a 6-0 lead, including capping the run with back-to-back aces from Brusie, in the third set, before the Sailfish got on the scoreboard on a kill from Rohn. The Mocs lead would then grow to as much as 20-3, before PBA would score five of the next eight points to pull within 23-8. That would be as close as things would get in the set as the Mocs scored the final two points, including sealing the 25-8 win with a kill from Brady. In the set, the Mocs outblocked PBA, 5-0 and held the Sailfish to a -.119 hitting percentage.
Rohn paced the Sailfish's offense as she finished with seven kills and added 13 digs, while Sarah Ragland added six kills and three blocks and Katie Ballantyne had five kills and hit a team-best .105 in the loss. In the Mocs earlier win this season over the Sailfish, Rohn had a double-double as she had 28 kills on 84 attack attempts and also added 19 digs in the setback.
The Mocs will return to Sunshine State Conference play this weekend for two matches in South Florida as the Mocs will open the road trip on Friday, Nov. 7 with a 7 p.m. match in Davie against Nova Southeastern (11-13 overall, 4-8 SSC) and then conclude the road swing on Saturday, Nov. 8 with a 4 p.m. match in Miami Shores against Barry (16-9 overall, 6-6 SSC). FSC picked up three sets victories over both teams in Lakeland in early October.
"Our goal is to be in the Top 2 of the region and were in the Top 2 right now, we have a lot work ahead to maintain that ranking," said Stephens, who is now 314-155 in her 14th season at the helm of her alma mater. "We have some big matches coming up at Nova and Barry this weekend and one more on the road next week at Saint Leo and then Rollins at home for Senior Night next Friday."
