Mocs Dominate in Day Two of South Region Crossover

HOOVER, Ala. - Florida Southern College volleyball cruised in the second day of South Region Crossover action at the Finley Center on Saturday, sweeping Christian Brothers and earning its second 3-1 victory over Lee this season. The Moccasins (5-13) earned their first sweep of 2019 with a 3-0 victory over the Buccaneers (5-16) before holding the Flames (9-13) to a sub-.100 hitting percentage performance to go undefeated for the day. The Mocs return to Lakeland for four-straight home matches in the next 10 days as they host Eckerd (Oct. 22), Barry (Oct. 25), Palm Beach Atlantic (Oct. 26) and Saint Leo (Oct. 29).

HOW IT HAPPENED AGAINST CHRISTIAN BROTHERS

• Set one saw the Moccasins burst out to an 8-2 lead on three service aces, with two from freshman Raeley Matthews. The margin held for the Moccasins as each side exchanged small point runs throughout the remainder of the set as junior Erica Ronda clinched set point with a kill to give FSC a 25-19 set win.
• An even 4-4 start to set two was broken by a 4-0 Moccasin run on three kills and an ace. Christian Brothers responded back with a nine four run to give them their first lead of the set at 13-12. The Moccasins blew the second set open with a 9-2 run and then, after allowing three straight to the Buccaneers, scored four-straight to take set two, 25-18.
• The Mocs held a slight advantage over Christian Brothers in the beginning of set three, with the team leading by three at numerous points in the set. The Bucs made the contest interesting with a 3-0 run while trailing 16-13 to tie the set at 16 and from there initiated a tense back-and-forth affair that saw the two sides tie at every point from 16 to 24. The shootout ended with two Buc attacking errors that gave the Moccasins the 3-0 sweep with a 26-24 third-set score.
• Rachael Martin, Tierra Porter and Lena Bondar all led the team in kills (9) while Mika Garza recorded 35 assists. Beatrice Formilan tallied 15 digs and Porter led the Mocs with four blocks. FSC had nine service aces in the match led by Ronda (3), Garza (2) and Matthews (2).

HOW IT HAPPENED AGAINST LEE

• Set one of Florida Southern versus Lee started nearly identically to the first set of the first FSC match of the day, with the Moccasins mounting an 8-2 run to start the match. Lee pulled within one at 10-9 but FSC never trailed as they kept the Flames at bay, ending the set with a 7-1 run to earn the first set, 25-18.
• The Moccasins started set two with a 7-2 run but the Flames battled back to tie the set at 12. FSC earned another 7-2 run that Lee again fought to draw even, getting as close as 19-17. The Mocs continued the day's trend of closing out sets strong as they scored six of the next eight points to take set two, 25-19.
• Set three began with the Flames earning their first sizable lead of the day with a 10-4 run, only to have the Moccasins retaliate with five-straight points to pull within one (10-9). The two sides exchanged points for the majority of the set, pushing the score well past the 25-point mark. Despite having set point five times, the Moccasins were unable to close the set as the point totals for both sides exceeded 30. The Flames finally ended the set with a kill from Hanna Matthews and a Moccasin attacking error to win set three, 33-31.
• A tight stalemate was broken by the Moccasins at the 9-9 mark in the fourth set as they earned eight of the next nine points to take a 17-10 lead. After a 4-2 run from the Flames the Mocs responded with a 6-2 run to end set four, winning the last three point with two kills and an ace to win the set, 25-16, and the match, 3-1.
• Martin again led the Mocs with 14 kills, followed by 10 kills each from Porter, Bondar and Buse Ene. Garza had a career-high 44 assists while Ene tied the season-high for aces with four. Williams and Formilan accumulated 27 and 24 digs, respectively. Porter and Martin dominated with five blocks each.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• The Moccasins move to 4-2 all-time against Christian Brothers and 3-1 all-time against Lee. In neutral site matches, FSC is now 3-2 against CBU and 3-0 against Lee.
• Florida Southern had five different players record at least seven kills against the Bucs, with Ene (7), Matthews (8), Porter (9), Martin (9) and Bondar (9) all contributing.
• The Moccasins now have two 3-1 wins over Lee this season, previously defeating the Flames at the USC Aiken Invitational on Sept. 14. The Moccasins held the Flames to a .094 hitting percentage, making it the second time this season that FSC held the Flames to a sub-.100 hitting percentage.
• The 33-31 third set against Lee is the highest point total in a set for the Moccasins since Nov. 14, 2017, when FSC won 38-36 over Saint Leo in the third set of a 3-0 sweep for the Mocs. The last time the Mocs earned over 30 points in a set was Oct. 13, 2017, when they won 31-29 over West Alabama in the opening set of the opening match of that season's South Region Crossover.
• The Lee match also saw the Moccasins set team highs for this season in kills (55), total attempts (171), assists (53) and digs (96). Martin set a season-high for kills in a four-set match (14), Garza set a season-high for assists (44), and both Williams (27) and Formilan (24) eclipsed the 23-dig season-high set by Formilan on Sept. 6 against Hillsdale.
• Ronda leads the conference with 0.45 aces per set, while Formilan is fourth in the conference with a 4.66 digs per set average. 

UP NEXT

• The Moccasins return to action on Tuesday with a 7 p.m. match at Streaming Sale Arena against Eckerd. The Mocs will then host Barry (Oct. 25), Palm Beach Atlantic (Oct. 26) and Saint Leo (Oct. 29) to conclude the four-game homestand.