Box Score LAKELAND - Florida Southern opened the 2014 season here Friday evening by using a strong defense and an efficient offense to post a three-set victory (25-18, 25-10, 25-15) over Lewis in the final match on the first day of the FSC/Terrace Hotel Classic at Jenkins Field House.
Friday's match featured two squads that each won 20-plus matches, advanced to the NCAA Division II Volleyball Tournament a year ago and received votes in the Preseason AVCA Division II Coaches' Poll. The Moccasins received 39 votes, while Lewis earned 29 votes in this season's preseason poll.
In the match, the Mocs defense held Lewis (1-1) to an .095 hitting percentage, including holding them to a combined .029 hitting percentage over the final two sets, including limiting the Flyers, who went 24-10 in 2013, to an .000 hitting percentage in picking up a 25-10 win in the second set.
"I thought we played well tonight for it being our first match of the season," Mocs head coach Jill Stephens said following the match. "We serve received well and were very efficient on offense against a Lewis team that is very good defensively."
The Mocs offensive attack was paced by 14 kills and a .314 attack percentage from senior outside hitter Kate Stromberg (Lexington, Ky.), while sophomore outside hitter Brindl Langley (Camas, Wash.) added nine kills and hit .296. On the night, the Mocs hit .291 as a team.
On defense, the Mocs recorded five total team blocks, had 61 digs and forced Lewis into 18 attack errors and five service errors. Leading the way defensively for the Mocs in Friday's opener was Langley, as she tallied 17 digs to go with her nine kills, while senior libero Catherine Brusie (North Branch, Mich.) and redshirt senior setter Ali Skayhan (Beaverton, Ore.) added 10 digs in the win. Skayhan, who sat out all of last season due to an injury and earned a medical hardship, also recorded 33 set assists for her 44th career double-double and also tied a career high with six aces.
"It was nice to have Ali back on the court tonight. She did a good job at running our offense and getting everyone involved," said Stephens, who is now 295-150 in her 14th season as the Mocs head coach.
In addition to Stromberg and Langley, four other Mocs recorded at least four kills on the night and two hit over .400 in the win as junior middle blocker Kayshia Brady (Weluka, Fla.) had six kills and no errors in 13 attack attempts and hit .462, while Skayhan added five kills. Junior right side hitter Kendall Marotti (LaBelle, Fla.) and sophomore middle blocker Rachel Mostert (Clearwater, Fla.) each had four kills on the night and Mostert finished with a .444 hitting percentage and added two blocks.
FSC opened the match by scoring the first three points and led 12-5 following an ace by Stromberg. The Flyers, though, would stop the run on a kill by Morgan Cebula, before the Mocs used an 8-6 run to push its lead to 20-12 following a kill by Mostert. Lewis answered with a 5-2 run to push within 22-17, before the Mocs closed the set by scoring three of the final four points to seal its 25-18 win.
The second set belonged to the Mocs as they jumped out to a 4-0 lead keyed by two kills from Brady. Lewis would score two of the next four points to make the score 6-2, before the Mocs scored 10 of the next 12 points to push its lead to 16-4. After Lewis scored four of the next seven points to push within 19-9, the Mocs would close the set by scoring six of the final seven points, including scoring five straight points to end the set.
In the third and final set, Lewis jumped out to a 9-6 lead, before the Mocs answered with three straight points capped by a Marotti kill to tie the set at 9-all. After a Stromberg service error and a kill by Alexis Davito gave Lewis the lead again, the Mocs scored three consecutive points to take a 13-12 lead. After two more ties, FSC would begin to shake off the Flyers as they used a 4-0 run to turn a 13-all tie into a lead the Mocs wouldn't relinquish the remainder of the match. In fact, FSC scored 12 of the matches final 14 points.
Lewis was led by Davito, who finished with nine kills and 12 digs, while Cebula added seven kills and hit a team-best .211. Amy Choi added 15 digs and Cassidy Parsons had 12 digs in the match as the Flyers recorded 58 digs on the night.
The Mocs also finished collected seven service aces in the victory.
FSC will conclude the FSC/Terrace Hotel Classic with two matches on Saturday, Sept. 6 as they face New Haven (0-2) at 12:30 p.m. and Flagler (2-0) at 7 p.m.
Complete Day One results of FSC/Terrace Hotel Classic
Flagler 3, New Haven 2 (21-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-15, 15-12)
Lewis 3, New Haven 0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-8)
Flagler 3, Nova Southeastern 0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-22)
Florida Southern 3, Lewis 0 (25-18, 25-10, 25-15)
