Box Score DENVER - Florida Southern opened play here Friday afternoon in the Colorado Premier Challenge by falling in a five sets to No. 1 ranked NCAA Division II National Champion Concordia-St. Paul (12-25, 25-23, 19-25, 25-21, 15-17) at the Auraria Event Center on the Metro State University campus.
The Moccasins, who fell to 3-1 on the season with the setback, gave the seven-time reigning NCAA Division II National Champion Golden Bears all they could handle in the opening match for both teams at the Premier Challenge. In fact, the Mocs held an 11-8 lead in the fifth set, before CUSP scored nine of the set's final 13 points to seal the victory and improve to 5-0 on the season.
Senior outside hitter Kate Stromberg (Lexington, Ky.) led the way offensively for the Mocs as she slammed home a season-high 22 kills and added 12 digs for her first double-double of the season and 28th of her collegiate career. She also matched her career high with four services aces as the Mocs had seven aces for the match.
In addition to Stromberg, junior right side hitter Kendall Marotti (LaBelle, Fla.) added 11 kills and 14 digs for her first double-double of the season, while redshirt senior setter Ali Skayhan (Beaverton, Ore.) finished with nine kills, hit .a team-best .389 and posted her second double-double of the season as she recorded 38 assists and 14 digs in the loss.
Offensively, the Mocs, who received 88 votes in this week's first regular season AVCA Division II Coaches' Poll, finished with 55 kills, but were held to a .148 hitting percentage as they committed a total of 36 errors in the match, including 29 attack errors and five service errors.
The Golden Bears, who have posted a 249-18 record over the past seven-plus seasons, were paced by Riley Hanson, who finished the match with 20 kills, five blocks and hit .444 in the win. Heather Schiller finished with 17 kills, including four in the final set and she added three blocks and a .308 hitting percentage, while Emma Lange added 15 kills and hit .312 for the match.
CUSP hit .227 as a team for the match, including hitting over .300 in the three sets they won. Additionally, the Golden Bears recorded 70 kills, 86 digs and a total of 10 team blocks in the victory and had 29 attack errors. The Mocs had 71 digs and seven total team blocks.
Freshman middle blocker Allie Geary (DeLand, Fla.) had two of FSC's seven blocks, while Stromberg added two solo blocks for the match.
The Mocs will return to the Auraria Event Center later today as they conclude the first day of the Premier Challenge with a 9:30 p.m. EDT match against one of the event's host teams, Metro State (4-0). The Roadrunners were scheduled to face No. 10 ranked Southwest Minnesota State in a 4:30 EDT match on Friday afternoon, before meeting the Mocs. Southwest Minnesota State opened the Premier Challenge on Friday morning with a four-set win over No. 2 ranked Tampa.
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