Box Score MELBOURNE, FL - Florida Southern College volleyball wrapped up the 2016 regular season with a 3-0 sweep over Sunshine State Conference rival Florida Tech on Friday at the Clemente Center. The Moccasins (20-10, 11-5 SSC0 completed the season sweep of the Panthers (8-22, 2-14), and secured their fifth-straight 20-win season
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Florida Southern looked as if it may a battle on its hands early as Florida Tech grabbed a quick 3-0 lead in the first set, but the Mocs battled back to take a 9-8 lead. After the Panthers tied the contest on the next play, Florida Southern strung together a 6-2 run to take a 15-11 and force an FIT timeout. The Mocs would carry the momentum the rest of the way en route to a 25-17 first-set win.
• The Moccasins looked dominant early in the second set, racing out to an 11-5 lead in the early going. However, Florida Tech did not go quietly, and was able to tie things up twice in the late stages. With the score knotted at 20, the Mocs closed out the set with a 5-3 run to take a 25-23 second-set win.
• Florida Tech jumped out to a 6-3 lead in the third and final set, but the Mocs were able to turn the tide with seven-straight points to grab a 10-6 advantage. Despite the deficit, the Panthers hung tough and used a 6-1 run of their own later in the set to jump in front, 15-14. That's the FSC came to life and scored seven of the next eight points to jump in front, 21-16, before earning a 25-20 third-set win to complete the sweep.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Florida Southern improved to 64-7 all-time against Florida Tech, and has won eight of the last 10 meetings against the Panthers. The Moccasins assured themselves of their fifth-straight 20 win season. The Mocs have won at least 20 matches 35 different times in program history, including 11 times in 16 seasons under head coach Jill Stephens.
• Brindl Langley finished with 21 digs to move to 1,875 for her career. She already holds the school record for career digs, and could reach 2,000 for her career if the Moccasins make a postseason appearance.
• Anna Tovo tallied a match-high 19 kills on the night. She has recorded double-digit kills in 43-straight matches, and has recorded 498 this season. Tovo has a chance to move into the program record book as she needs to reach 529 kills for the year to tie Dana Cozine (1983) and Beverly Stasis (2005) for 10th in single-season program history.
• Bethany Besancenez finished with 39 assists in the match to push her career total to 2,238. She currently ranks 10th in school history in assists, and is 467 away from moving into ninth. Besancenez has 1,294 assists this season, and her career average of 9.17 assists per set is good for eighth in the program's history.
UP NEXT
• Florida Southern will wait until Monday to find out its postseason fate. The NCAA Division II Tournament selection show is slated for 7:30 p.m. on Monday. Fans can find out the latest on Monday night by checking www.FSCMocs.com or following live on Twitter @fsc_athletics.
• The Moccasins entered the week ranked No. 5 in the South Region. A total of eight teams will make it to the South Regional, which will be played the first weekend in December. Florida Southern has appeared in the NCAA Tournament a total of 29 times, including each of the past six seasons. The Mocs were the South Region runner-up a year again, falling to eventual national runner-up Palm Beach Atlantic in five sets.
