Box Score FT. LAUDERDALE, FL - Florida Southern College volleyball picked up another Sunshine State Conference victory in a 3-1 win over Nova Southeastern on Friday at NSU Arena. The No. 21 Moccasins (8-2, 2-1 SSC) were able to hold off a late comeback by the Sharks (6-5, 1-2) to improve to 2-1 on the road this year.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Florida Southern looked as if it might be in trouble early as Nova Southeastern raced out to an 18-12 lead in the first set. The Mocs would call a timeout and came out of the break with a 5-1 run to close the gap to 19-17. The Sharks led 24-23 and had FSC on the ropes, but the Moccasins scored three-straight points and closed out the first set on an ace from Brindl Langley to take a 26-24 first-set win.
• The Mocs led for almost the entire second set and used a 11-2 run midway through to turn an 11-10 lead into an insurmountable 22-12 advantage en route to a 25-17 set victory.
• A wild third set featured 15 ties and six lead changes as NSU would come away with a 31-29 win to make the score 2-1. NSU led by as many as seven points (17-10), but the Moccasins stormed back to take a 23-22 lead late in the set. The teams would trade jabs until the Sharks were finally able to close out the set with three-straight points.
• The fourth and final set saw NSU jump out by four points (8-4) early on and it looked as if the match may head to a fifth set as Nova Southeastern held an 18-12 advantage. But the Mocs would not go quietly as they battled back to take the lead at 21-20 before back-to-back kills from Nicole Mattson and Anna Tovo gave FSC a 25-23 set win to close out the contest.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Anna Tovo tallied a career-high 28 kills in the match. Her 28 kills are the most for any FSC player since Ashley Martin had 31 against Pittsburg State on Sept. 1, 2007. Tovo has now recorded double-digit kills in 23-straight matches dating back to Oct. 24, 2015. It was her third match of the season with at least 20 kills. She has recorded 20 or more kills eight times in her career.
• Nicole Mattson recorded 15 kills in the match and has now recorded double-digit kills 16 times in her career, including six of the seven matches she has played in this year.
• Brindl Langley finished with 33 digs to push her career total to 1,467 digs. She needs just nine more to pass head coach Jill Stephens (1,475) for fifth in school history.
• Bethany Besancenez finished with 55 assists against NSU. It is the sixth time in her career that she has recorded at least 50 assists.
• The Mocs improved to 25-5 all-time against Nova Southeastern, including an 11-3 mark when facing the Sharks in Ft. Lauderdale.
UP NEXT
• Florida Southern closes out the weekend with a 4 p.m. contest at No. 16 Palm Beach Atlantic on Saturday before playing host to No. 19 Tampa at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
