LAKELAND, Fla. - Florida Southern College beach volleyball opened the 2020 season with a pair of dominating victories. The Mocs defeated Erskine College 4-1 in the opening match and closed out the day with a 5-0 victory St. Johns River. Between the Mocs matches, Erskine picked up its program's first victory as they defeated St. Johns River 5-0. At the end of the day, the records stood with Southern 2-0, Erskine 1-1, and St. Johns River 0-2.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Florida Southern 4, Erskine 1
Southern's number five pair of sophomore Bethany Jones and freshman Madelyn Grim claimed the opening set but ultimately would drop the second set 21-12. The duo would battle in the final set but it was the Fleet's number five pair that would earn the point for their team. The Moccasins number four pair of freshman Linzy Bozeman and sophomore Kennedy Matthews lost the first set 22-20 but bounced back to take set two 21-9 and set three 15-13 for the Moccasins first point of 2020.
The Mocs would jump out to a 2-1 lead as junior Kayla Trefren and sophomore Haley Goodrich earned a two-set victory of 21-15 and 21-19. In a similar fashion as court three, Southern would clinch the match victory with a two-set sweep thanks to the duo of junior Erica Ronda and sophomore Celia Greco. Southern's number one pair would claim the fourth point for the home team as senior Katie Bergeron and graduate student Mandee Eberle also closed out with a two-set victory.
Florida Southern 5, St. Johns River 0
The Mocs' head coach Hyrum Keime kept his pairings for the second match the same and it paid off as the Mocs were victorious in 10 of the 11 sets played. Southern held their opponents from St. Johns River to single-digit points in five of the 11 sets including a 21-4 victory from Jones and Grim to open the match. Southern's number one pairing of Bergeron and Eberle got off to a slow start in the first set as they fell 15-21 but would bounce back to take set two 21-16 and then rally to claim the final set 15-10.
Southern's shutout of St. John's River was just the third shutout in program history and the second 5-0 shutout (Stevenson - March 23, 2019). Last season the Mocs picked up a 3-0 shutout of Carson-Newman at the AVCA Small College Championships.
Southern opened its third season in program history and for the first time opens a season 2-0.
UP NEXT
Florida Southern will be back at the Ruthven Beach Courts for a morning doubleheader against UT-Martin on March 3 beginning at 10 a.m. Southern will close out the week with four matches over the weekend at the Battle of the Bay Tournament in St. Petersburg (March 6-7).
