Box Score LAKELAND - Florida Southern opened up the final day of play here Saturday in its annual Terrace Hotel Classic at Jenkins Field House by posting a hard fought four-set victory over Armstrong State University (25-14, 18-25, 25-21, 25-16).
With the victory, the 11th-ranked Moccasins improve to 3-0 in the tournament and 7-0 on the season, while Armstrong State, who earned 15 votes in this week's AVCA Division II Coaches' Poll, finished the tournament with a 1-2 record and fell to 2-4 overall on the season.
The win was propelled by an offense that heated up over the final two sets as after hitting .182 and .027 in the first two sets, FSC combined to hit .322 over the final two sets to post its second straight four-set victory. The Mocs concluded the first night of the FSC/Terrace Hotel Classic on Friday night with a four-set victory over Central Oklahoma.
FSC's offense was paced by 10 kills apiece from senior right side hitter Kendall Marotti (LaBelle, Fla.) and sophomore outside hitter Anna Tovo (Aiken, S.C.). Those two combined for nine of FSC's 24 kills over the final two sets.
In addition to Marotti and Tovo, senior middle blocker Kayshia Brady (Welaka, Fla.) added nine kills, including seven in the final two sets, two solo blocks and hit .316. In fact, Brady was one of two Mocs, the other being junior middle blocker/right side hitter Rachel Mostert (Clearwater, Fla.), who hit over .250 in match. Mostert finished the match hitting .333 as she had four kills and one attack error on nine hitting attempts.
One of the big advantages for the Mocs in the match came in serving as they recorded 10 aces in the win, including three each in the third and fourth sets. Junior outside hitter Brindl Langley (Camas, Wash.) picked up a career high five aces, including ending the match with an ace in the fourth and final set, while freshman setter Bethany Besancenez (St. Louis, Mo.) had a career high three in the victory.
In addition to its offense, the Moccasin defense also had a hand in the victory as they tied a season high with nine blocks and outdug the Pirates, 59-56. FSC also limited Armstrong to a .140 attack percentage, including holding them to a .059 percentage in the final set.
Senior setter Lauren Shlemon (Tampa, Fla.) played a big role in FSC's defensive effort as she recorded a season high 14 digs and added 14 assists. Along with Shlemon, Tovo and Langley each had 10 digs. For Shlemon, the double-double was the first of her Moccasin career.
Tovo also finished with a double-double as she added her 10 digs to her 10 kills.
Sophomore middle blocker Allie Geary (DeLand, Fla.) tied her season high with six blocks, including two of FSC's five solo blocks and Marotti added three digs.
Armstrong State, who went 30-3 last season and advanced to the championship match of the Southeast Regional, was paced by 14 kills from Emily Wylie, while Anna McGee had 12 kills, four blocks and hit a team best .333. Selene Ushela had a match high 20 digs in the loss.
Along with hitting .140, Armstrong State finished the match with 40 kills, but had 22 attack errors and 14 service errors in the match that lasted a little over 90 minutes. FSC had 19 attack errors and 14 service errors.
The Mocs will conclude the Terrace Hotel Classic with a 7:30 p.m. match against 24th-ranked West Texas A&M.
