Box Score HOOVER, Ala. - Florida Southern College volleyball fell in its opening match of the South Region Crossover on Friday afternoon, dropping a 3-1 contest to Shorter at the Finley Center. The Moccasins (3-13) overcame a first-set Hawks (7-13) win with a second-set victory but fell in sets three and four to give the Gulf South Conference foe the match. The Mocs will look to rebound tomorrow as they take on Christian Brothers (9 a.m.) and Lee (4:45 p.m.).
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Moccasins kicked off the match strong with an 8-4 run to start the first set. The Hawks recovered and mounted a 12-1 run that forced both of Southern's timeouts. A 4-0 Moccasin response led to rapid fire points from both sides, capped off by a 5-0 run by Shorter to give them the first set, 25-17.
- Set two saw the Moccasins again streak out ahead with a 4-0 run only to be matched by an identical run by the Hawks. With Shorter leading 9-8 the Moccasins scored nine-straight points on four kills to lead 17-9. The Hawks attempted to battle back but FSC held steady, winning the second set, 25-20.
- Shorter dominated the start of set three with a 10-3 run on seven kills. The Moccasins fought hard throughout the set to draw within two (21-19), but could not stop the bleeding as they fell in set three, 25-19.
- The fourth set saw yet another strong start by the Hawks as they quickly created an 8-3 lead. The five-point margin would sway but hold until the 23-15 mark, where the Mocs won five out of the next six points to draw within four. Shorter finished the set and match with a kill by Kendall Vondra to take the set, 25-20, and the match, 3-1.
- Rachael Martin led the team with 13 kills, followed by Lena Bondar with 10. Mika Garza recorded 27 assists while Beatrice Formilan tallied 23 digs with Hailey Williams adding nine of her own. Martin led the team with four blocks with Buse Ene and Anica Popadic following with three each.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- The loss against the Hawks marks the first for the Moccasins. FSC leads the all-time series, 2-1, with two 3-0 sweeps against Shorter previously at neutral sites on Nov. 20, 2014 and Oct. 15, 2016.
- Martin's 13 kills are a season-high for her. The mark is the most for the junior since Nov. 10, 2018 when she tallied 15 against eventual 2018 National Champion Tampa.
- Formilan's 23 digs in four sets gave her a 5.75 digs per set mark. Her 4.49 digs per set for the season is fourth in the conference.
UP NEXT
- The Moccasins return to action on Saturday with two more contests at the South Region Crossover against Christian Brothers at 9 a.m. and Lee at 4:45 p.m. Southern will then return home and prepare for a string of matches against Eckerd (Oct. 22), Barry (Oct. 25) and Palm Beach Atlantic (Oct. 26).
