Box Score CARROLLTON, Ga. - Florida Southern returned to the action following an eight-day layoff here Friday afternoon by opening play in the South Regional Crossover with a four-set victory over 18th-ranked West Florida (25-18, 22-25, 27-25, 25-17) at the Coliseum on the campus of the University of West Georgia.
With the victory, the 14th-ranked Moccasins improve to 14-3 overall and extended its win streak in non-conference matches to 10 straight, while UWF fell to 17-3 overall and had its 13 match win streak snapped.
In Friday's match, the Mocs defense proved to be the difference as they held the Argonauts of the Gulf South Conference to an .047 attack percentage as the Argos had 46 kills and 37 attack errors on its 191 attack attempts and the Mocs recorded nine blocks, including four solo blocks and had 102 digs in the match that lasted nearly two hours. It marked the second time this season that FSC had 100 or more digs in a match as they had a season high 109 digs in a four set win at Embry-Riddle on Sept. 19.
While its defense was strong, the Mocs offense was also balanced as four players recorded 10 or more kills in the win as the Mocs finished with a match high 53 kills and hit .169 in the victory.
Leading the way for the Mocs was sophomore outside hitter Anna Tovo (Aiken, S.C.) as she finished with 15 kills and added a career high 22 digs for her team-best eighth double-double of the season. Along with Tovo, senior right side hitter Kendall Marotti (LaBelle, Fla.) added 12 kills and 14 digs for her fourth double-double of the year, while junior outside hitter Brindl Langley (Camas, Wash.) had 11 kills and 15 digs for her second double-double of the season and senior middle blocker Kayshia Brady (Welaka, Fla.) added 10 kills, hit .241 and had four blocks in the win. Those four players combined for 48 of FSC's 53 kills and 54 of its 102 digs in the match.
In addition to double-doubles by Tovo, Marotti and Langley, FSC's two setters also recorded double-doubles as senior Lauren Shlemon (Tampa, Fla.) had 21 assists and 17 digs and freshman Bethany Besancenez (St. Louis, Mo.) recorded 22 assists and 15 digs.
Along with Brady's four blocks, both sophomore middle blocker Allie Geary (DeLand, Fla.) and junior middle blocker/right side hitter Rachel Mostert (Clearwater, Fla.) each finished with four blocks in the victory.
Friday's match was a back-and-forth affair throughout it both teams combined for 27 ties and 15 lead changes, including a combined 20 ties and 12 lead changes in the second and third sets.
In the first set, the Argos jumped out to a 6-4 lead and led 8-7 when the Mocs used a 7-2 run to take a 14-10 lead. UWF would respond with a 5-1 run to tie the set at 15, before the Mocs closed out the set by scoring 10 of the final 13 points to post a 25-18 win. The Mocs held UWF to a -.109 hitting percentage in the set.
The Mocs jumped in 2-0 and led 6-3 in the second set when the Argos used a 9-4 spree to take a 12-10 lead. The run was capped by back-to-back kills from Rachel Neblett. FSC, though, would use an 8-4 run of its own to take an 18-16 lead. The Mocs run was keyed by a combined five kills from Tovo (3) and Brady (2). That lead was short-lived as the Argos used a 6-2 run to take a 22-20 lead. After a kill by Brady brought the Mocs within a point at 22-21, UWF would score the next two points to take 24-21 lead. Brady would slam home her fifth kill of the set to bring the Mocs within two points at 24-22, but would get no closer as Katy Kuhlmeier recorded a kill to give the Argos a 25-22 win and tie the match at a set apiece. Both teams hit over .180 in the set as FSC hit .206 and UWF hit .190.
With the match tied at 1-all, the third set proved to be a pivotal one as the Argos jumped out to a 21-14 lead, before the Mocs answered with a 10-2 flurry to take a 24-23 lead following a kill by Tovo. After back-to-back errors by both teams made the score 25-24 in UWF's favor, the Mocs used kills from Tovo Geary and an attack error by UWF's Autumn Duyn to rally for a 27-25 win and take a 2-1 lead in the match. Neither team hit well in the set as the Mocs hit .074 and UWF hit .018, but both teams combined to recorded 61 digs as FSC had 31, including a combined 16 from Shlemon and sophomore libero Nicci Joyce (Farmington Hills, Mich.) and UWF had 30.
The fourth set belonged to the Mocs as they jumped out to a 6-0 lead and led 15-6 when the Argos used a 5-3 run to pull within 18-11. After the Mocs scored two straight points to push its lead to 20-11, UWF would respond with a 5-3 run to drop the Mocs lead to 23-16. That would be as close as the Argos would get as the Mocs scored two of the set's final three point to post a 25-17 win and seal its second win this season over a nationally-ranked opponent. FSC is now 2-1 this season against ranked opponents. For the set, FSC hit .298 and had 18 kills, including Langley and Marotti combining for nine of them, while UWF hit .104.
UWF, who suffered its first loss since falling in four sets to then 13th-ranked Ferris State at the Colorado Premier Challenge on Nov. 11, was paced by 10 kills apiece from Neblett and Cora Bidlack. In addition, Duyn added nine kills and a match high 23 digs, while Monique St. Cyr posted a double-double of 36 assists and 19 digs in the loss.
The Mocs will conclude play in the South Regional Crossover on Saturday, Oct. 17 as they face Lee (Tenn.) and Valdosta State at 10 a.m. and 4:45 p.m., respectively. Lee (Tenn.) enters the match with an 8-10 record after suffering a five set loss to Eckerd in its opener and then falling in three sets later in the day on Friday to Barry, while Valdosta State is 14-2 on the season as they are faced Eckerd in its South Regional Crossover opener later Friday afternoon.
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