Box Score TAMPA - Florida Southern concluded its two-match road swing in Sunshine State Conference play here Saturday afternoon by falling in four sets to top-ranked Tampa (22-25, 25-15, 20-25, 12-25) at the Martinez Athletics Center on the UT campus.
Despite the setback, the Moccasins, who fell to 7-4 overall and 3-1 in the SSC, managed to take its first set off the Spartans since Oct. 26, 2011 as FSC had lost seven straight matches to UT in three sets before Saturday's four setter. In fact, FSC had lost 23 straight sets to UT since picking up a 25-20 win in the third set of that Oct. 26 match.
"Tampa is a great team, but this match today should give us confidence moving forward for the next time we face them," Mocs head coach Jill Stephens said following her team's first loss in league play this year. "We played well for most of the match, especially being able to outblock them, 8-1."
UT, who has now won 39 consecutive SSC matches dating to 2011, improved to 10-1 overall and 3-0 in the SSC with the victory.
Despite the loss, the Mocs, who had its three match win streak snapped, can take pride in the fact that they outblocked the top-ranked Spartans, 8-1, including recording four total team blocks in its 25-15 win in the second set. Sophomore middle blocker Rachel Mostert (Clearwater, Fla.) led the way with five blocks, while junior middle blocker Kayshia Brady (Welaka, Fla.) had three blocks, including two solo blocks.
The third set proved to be the key set in Saturday's match as UT won the opening set, 25-22, while the Mocs posted a 25-15 win in the second set. In the third set, the Mocs jumped out to an 8-6 lead and led 11-9 when the Spartans used a 9-3 run capped to retake the lead at 18-14. After a kill from senior outside hitter Kate Stromberg(Lexington, Ky.) brought the Mocs within three points at 18-15, the Spartans scored two consecutive points to push its lead to 20-15. The Mocs, though, wouldn't go away as they scored three straight points to pull within 20-18. That would be as close as the Mocs would get as UT closed the set by scoring five of the final seven points to post a 25-20 lead and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
"We had some chances in that third set, but couldn't take advantage of those opportunities," the Mocs coach said. "We have to learn how to win that third set."
In Saturday's match, the Mocs, who outhit the Spartans, .281 to .242, were paced offensively by Stromberg as she recorded a double-double of 11 kills and 11 digs and hit .285, while Mostert and sophomore outside hitter Brindl Langley (Camas, Wash.) each had 10 kills in the loss. Along with her 10 kills and five blocks, Mostert hit a career high .714 and Langley added a double-double as she had 12 digs and all three of FSC's aces in the match.
UT had 61 kills, but committed 25 attack errors on its 149 attack attempts in the match, while FSC recorded just 43 kills, but had just nine hitting errors in its 121 attack attempts.
In the opening set, FSC jumped out to a 6-2 lead, before the Spartans used a 6-1 run to take an 8-7 lead. After a kill from Brady retied the set at 8-all, the Spartans scored three consecutive points to push out to an 11-8 lead. The Mocs, though, would come back and score four straight points to take a 12-11 lead. UT would respond with a 5-2 run to take a 16-14 lead, before FSC answered with a 4-0 run capped by an assisted block from junior right side hitter Kendall Marotti (LaBelle, Fla.) and Mostert to take an 18-16 lead. UT would score three of the next four points to tie the set a 19-all, before the Mocs returned the favor by scoring two consecutive points to take a 21-19 lead. UT would close out the set by scoring six of the final seven points to seal its 25-22 win.
After losing the first set, 25-22, the second set belonged to the Mocs as they hit .429 and held the Spartans to an .029 attack percentage en route to posting a 25-15 win. It was close early on in the set until the Mocs used an 8-2 run to take a 12-6 lead. The Mocs would eventually grow to 17-10 following a kill by Marotti, before UT scored two straight points to pull within 17-13. That would be as close as the Spartans would get, though, as the Mocs closed out the set on an 8-2 run to post its 25-15 win. In the set, the Mocs had 13 kills, two aces, 16 digs and four team blocks.
Leading 2-1 after three sets, UT hit .464 and held the Mocs to an .074 hitting percentage as they earned a 25-12 win to seal its 39th consecutive SSC victory and its 16th straight win over the Mocs. The Spartans jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the set and led 14-3 when the Mocs used a 5-1 run to pull within 15-8 following an ace by Langley. That would be as close as the Mocs would get as they answered Langley's ace by scoring six of the next seven points to push its lead to 21-9. After FSC scored two of the next three points to drop UT's lead to 22-11, the Spartans would seal the win and the match by scoring three of the final four points for its 25-12 victory.
UT All-American Berkley Whaley led the way for UT's offense as she had 20 kills, hit .314 and added 11 digs for a double-double. In addition to Whaley, Marissa Lisenbee added 11 kills, while Meagan Burke and Jessica Wagner each had 10 kills in the win. Wagner also hit a team-best .444 and also added five aces and eight digs. UT finished the match with eight aces.
The Mocs will return home next weekend and look to begin a new winning streak as they will host Barry in a 7 p.m. match on Friday, Oct. 3, before hosting Nova Southeastern on Saturday, Oct. 4 at 4 p.m.
