Box Score WEST PALM BEACH - Florida Southern stepped out of Sunshine State Conference play here Saturday afternoon and suffered a hard fought four-set loss to 17th-ranked Palm Beach Atlantic (25-27, 25-22, 17-25, 15-25) in a battle of two Top 20 nationally ranked teams at Rubin Arena.
With the setback, the 15th-ranked Moccasins fell to 17-5 overall, while Palm Beach Atlantic moved to 18-3 overall on the year.
Sophomore outside hitter Anna Tovo (Aiken, S.C.) paced the Mocs offense with 13 kills and added 13 digs for her team leading 10th double-double. In addition to Tovo, freshman outside hitter Nicole Mattson (Oviedo, Fla.) added 10 kills, while senior right side hitter Kendall Marotti (LaBelle, Fla.) and senior middle blocker Kayshia Brady (Welaka, Fla.) each had seven kills in the loss. Brady also hit a team best .333 as she was only Moccasin to hit over .135 for the match.
One night after hitting a then season low .122 in its four-set SSC loss at Barry, the Mocs set a new season low for hitting percentage in Saturday's match as they hit .120 as a team, including hitting a combined -.024 in the final two sets.
FSC's defense finished with 96 digs as five Mocs recorded double-digit digs led by junior outside hitter Brindl Langley (Camas, Wash.), who tied her career high with 27, while freshman setter Bethany Besancenez (St. Louis, Mo.) recorded 15 digs and added 21 assists for her fifth double-double of the year and Tovo had 13. Redshirt sophomore libero Nicci Joyce (Farmington Hills, Mich.) had 11 digs and Marotti added 10.
Marotti had four blocks and Brady added two blocks as FSC finished with six total team blocks.
The Mocs jumped out to a 4-1 lead and led 6-2 in the first set when the Sailfish used an 11-5 run to take an 13-11 lead. After a kill from Mattson brought the Mocs within 13-12, the Sailfish scored five straight points to push its lead to 18-12. The Mocs, though, would respond by scoring four straight points to pull within 18-16. PBA would answer by scoring three of next four points to take a 21-17 lead. FSC responded by scoring five of the next six points to tie the set at 22. The teams would then take turns trading points until the Sailfish scored the final three points of the set after FSC had taken a 25-24 lead to post a 27-25 win. PBA's set win was capped by a service ace from Ally Rohn, who finished with two of her team's seven aces in the match.
In the second set neither team held a lead of more than a point until the Mocs used a 3-0 run to turn a 6-5 deficit into a 9-6 lead. PBA, though, would score five straight points to take an 11-9 lead. The Mocs would answer by scoring four of next six points to tie the set at 13. PBA would score six of the next eight points to push its lead to 19-15, before FSC rallied to score six consecutive points to take a 21-19 lead. After the Sailfish scored two of the next three points to pull within 22-21, FSC would close out the set by scoring three of the final four points to post a 25-22 win and even the match at a set apiece.
FSC jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the third set and led 8-7 when the Sailfish used a 6-2 run to take a 14-9 lead. After a kill by Brady pushed the Mocs within 14-10, PBA responded with a 9-2 run to take a 23-12 lead. The Sailfish's run was aided by four service aces. The Mocs, though, wouldn't go away without a fight as they scored five of the next six points capped by an ace from Marotti to drop PBA's lead to 24-17. That would be as close as the Mocs would get as a Marotti service error capped the Sailfish's 25-17 set win and give them a 2-1 lead in the match. The Mocs hit .028 in the set, while PBA hit .200.
The fourth set belonged to the Sailfish as they jumped out to 13-4 lead and cruised from there as they led by as much as 10 points at 18-8, before FSC scored five straight points to pull within 18-13. The Sailfish, though, would respond by closing the set by scoring seven of the final nine points to seal its 25-15 set win. The Mocs hit -.065 in the set.
PBA, who hit .184 in the match and recorded 60 kills, was paced by 13 kills apiece from Stephany Brown and Ally Rohn, who finished with a triple-double as she added 30 assists and 13 digs in the match. Faith Rohn finished with 12 kills and 11 digs.
The Sailfish's defense was paced by 31 digs from Rachel Holehouse, while Alexandra Roberts added 19 and Sarah Ragland recorded a match-high six blocks as PBA finished with 10.5 total team blocks.
FSC will return to action on Tuesday, Oct. 27 as they open the second half of SSC play with a 7 p.m. match at Jenkins Field House against Rollins. The Mocs opened SSC play with a three-set win over the Tars on Sept. 18.
