Box Score LAKELAND, Fla. – Florida Southern College volleyball rallied to take set three but fell 3-1 to Nova Southeastern on Friday night at Rick Case Arena. The Moccasins (7-20, 3-14 SSC) recorded 11 blocks against the Sharks (17-11, 9-8 SSC), but were unable to find a way through a tough Nova Southeastern defense.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Set one saw each side stick close together early. With the Moccasins leading 10-9, the Sharks rallied off five straight to take a 14-10 lead and would not trail again for the remainder of the set. The Mocs would pull within one (16-15), but the Sharks held on for a 25-20 first-set win.
- A 6-6 tie score in set two was broken by another five-point run by the home side that gave them an 11-6 lead. The Moccasins would again pull within one twice during the set (12-11, 13-12), but could not close the gap as the Sharks took set two, 25-19.
- Southern flipped the script in set three, quickly earning a 5-1 lead. The Moccasins would not trail at any point in the set as the team hit .343 en route to a 25-19 third-set win to draw within one set of the Sharks.
- The Sharks returned the favor in set four, winning nine of the first twelve points to take a 9-3 lead. Southern won five-straight points to draw within one (9-8) but an equal five-point run from Nova Southeastern gave them back the buffer. The Sharks kept the Moccasins at bay to win the set, 25-21, and the match, 3-1.
- Freshman Ali Travis continued her hot-hitting streak with a 15-kill performance, followed by Lena Bondar with 11. Annie Collins recorded 33 assists and Beatrice Formilan earned 17 digs on the night. The Moccasins recorded 11 blocks on the night, led by Rachael Martin (7), Bondar (4) and Tierra Porter (4)
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Florida Southern still leads the all-time series against the Sharks, 29-8. The Moccasins are now 12-5 when playing the Sharks in Ft. Lauderdale and are 6-2 in the last eight matchups overall.
- Martin's seven-block performance is the fourth-highest this season for any Moccasin and the most for her since recording nine against Saint Leo on Oct. 29. The team's 11 total blocks are tied for the third-most this season with an equal performance against Hillsdale on Sept. 6.
- Travis has now recorded double-digit digs in seven-straight matches. In that span, she has tallied 115 kills and is averaging 3.97 kills per set.
- Formilan has totaled 239 digs in the past 12 matches, averaging 5.20 digs per set. If the season ended today her average of 4.83 digs per set would place her third in program history for a single season behind leader Courtney Veasey's 2004 season (5.33).
UP NEXT
- Southern will travel to Lynn on Saturday before closing out the season next weekend with away matches at Palm Beach Atlantic (Friday, Nov. 22) and Barry (Saturday, Nov. 23).
