Box Score LAKELAND - Florida Southern completed play here Saturday night with a dominating three-set victory over Flagler (25-8, 25-16, 25-13) to complete the season-opening Terrace Hotel Classic with a perfect 3-0 record at Jenkins Field House.
The Moccasins, who have now started the season 3-0 for the first time since 2011, used an impressive offensive performance to post the win over the Saints as they hit .376 overall as a team and had 45 kills and had three players record nine or more kills.
"What a great way to start the season with three wins against three quality opponents," Mocs head coach Jill Stephens said following the completion of her team's 70-minute match. "We did a good job balancing our offense and pursuing the ball this weekend. Plus, our team defense was tremendous, too."
In Saturday's final match of the Terrace Hotel Classic, the Mocs offense was paced by 14 kills and a .737 attack percentage from junior middle blocker Kayshia Brady (Welaka, Fla.). In addition to Brady, senior outside hitter Kate Stromberg (Lexington, Ky.) and sophomore outside hitter Brindl Langley (Camas, Wash.) each had nine kills and hit over .400 apiece. Stromberg hit .444 and Langley hit .467 as they both earned a spot on the seven-player FSC/Terrace Hotel Classic All-Tournament Team.
Stromberg finished the tournament with 36 kills, 21 digs, four service aces and hit .361, while Langley recorded 23 kills, 42 digs and hit .270.
Perhaps the biggest reason for the Mocs success this weekend was the return of redshirt senior setter Ali Skayhan (Beaverton, Ore.) to the Moc line-up. Skayhan, who missed the entire 2013 season due to injury and received a medical hardship, was named the FSC/Terrace Hotel Classic MVP after recording 105 assists, seven aces and 21 digs and helping set the table for a Moccasin offense that hit a combined .334 in the season opening tournament's three matches.
"Ali is a our motor and makes us go," said Stephens, who improved to 297-150 in her 14th season at the helm of her alma mater. "Her leadership is good and she did a great job getting her teammates involved."
In the win against Flagler, the Mocs, who won three matches in the tournament against NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago, opened the first set by scoring the first six points en route to posting a 25-8 win. In the set, the Mocs lead would grow to as much as 17 points on two occasions as FSC hit .536, recorded 16 kills and three service aces in the set. Three of Flagler's eight points came off of Moccasin errors as FSC had one attack and two service errors. Langley had five of her nine kills in the opening set.
After trailing the entire first set, Flagler would open the second set by scoring two of the first three points to take a 2-1 lead, before the Mocs responded with a 7-0 run capped by a solo block from sophomore middle blocker Rachel Mostert (Clearwater, Fla.) to take an 8-2 lead. The Saints, though, would answer with a 10-7 run to pull within 15-12. The Mocs would then close out the set by scoring 10 of the set's final 14 points to post a 25-16 win and take a 2-0 lead in the match. In the set, the Mocs hit .303 as they had 15 kills, including five kills from Brady.
In the third and final set, the Mocs jumped out to a 7-1 lead thanks to three kills from Brady, before Flagler used a 4-2 run to pull within 9-5. The Mocs, though, would use a 9-2 run to push its lead to 18-7. After back-to-back kills from Genal Sturgeon pushed the Saints within 18-9, the Mocs closed the set on a 7-4 run to cap the 25-13 set win and clinch the match victory.
The Mocs defense also had a hand in the win over Flagler as the Mocs recorded 47 digs and five total team blocks and held the Saints to an .036 hitting percentage on the night. Flagler had 17 kills and committed 14 attack errors on its 83 total attacks.
Langley led the Mocs defensive effort with a match-high 15 digs, while senior libero Catherine Brusie (North Brach, Mich.) added 13 digs and junior right side hitter Kendall Marotti (LaBelle, Fla.) had nine digs and three of FSC's eight service aces. Mostert had a career night blocking the ball as she recorded four solo blocks and also had four kills in the win.
Flagler, who fell to 2-2 with the loss, was paced by five kills apiece from Sturgeon and Sara Davis.
Joining Skayhan, Langley and Stromberg on the All-Tournament Team were Flagler sophomore outside hitter Genel Sturgeon, Lewis redshirt junior right side hitter Alexis Davito, Lewis redshirt senior libero Amy Choi, Nova Southeastern sophomore setter Katie Pyles and New Haven senior middle hitter Kristy Atufunwa.
The Mocs will hit the road for the first time this season next weekend as they travel to Denver to play in the Premier Challenge, which is one of the top Division II in-season tournaments in the country. The Mocs will open the tournament on Friday, Sept. 12 against No. 1 ranked and seven-time defending NCAA D-II National Champion Concordia-St. Paul and Metro State, before facing fifth-ranked Central Missouri and Regis on Saturday, Sept. 13. Both Friday and Saturday's matches are scheduled for 2 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. respectively.
Complete Results of FSC/Terrace Hotel Classic
Friday, Sept. 6
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)
Saturday, Sept. 6
Lewis 3, Nova Southeastern 2 (23-25, 25-21, 25-17, 23-25, 15-13)
Florida Southern 3, New Haven (25-17, 25-17, 26-24)
Lewis 3, Flagler 0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-18)
Nova Southeastern 3, New Haven 2 (19-25, 21-25, 25-23, 25-18, 15-9)
Florida Southern 3, Flagler (25-8, 25-16, 25-13)
