LAKELAND, Fla. – The Florida Southern College volleyball team win a thrilling five set match against the visiting Embry-Riddle Eagles in a Sunshine State Conference matchup on Friday night with a score of 3-2 (25-23, 25-17, 22-25, 23-25, 15-11). With the win, the Mocs move to 14-12 overall and 10-9 in SSC play. The Eagles drop to 25-5 on the year and 14-4 in the conference.
HOW IT HAPPENED
1st Set | While the Mocs worked to score on the attack, FSC capitalized on errors by the Eagles to start the match with a narrow 4-6 deficit.
Mackenzie Petermann nailed the first kill for Florida Southern, which
Tierra Porter followed up with her own kill, and a service ace by
Ali Travis to again be down by just two (7-9). Petermann had three more kills halfway through the set, but the Mocs stayed down by four. FSC had 7-0 run to take their first lead of the game with another ace by Travis and 19-16 lead. Embry-Riddle came within one, but Petermann notched another kill for a 21-19 lead.
Emma Shaddix added a kill for a 23-21 late lead, but the Eagles followed up with two kills of their own to tie set one at 23.
Tierra Porter had a kill for the set point, as
Megan Carron sealed the set one win.
2nd Set |FSC was down 2-0 to start, but Porter halted the early deficit with a kill (2-1). The Mocs stayed just behind early, but had a 4-0 run to go up 8-6 thanks to the whole team getting involved on the attack. After the Eagles tied the game up, Florida Southern had another big run, 6-0, which led to a five point lead (14-8). With a 17-11 lead, the Mocs continued the attack with kills by Petermann. Despite the Eagles narrowing the deficit, Petermann had back-to-back kills and
Jana Gilic earned back-to-back service aces for 23-16 lead. Petermann and Porter finished the job for the set two win.
3rd Set | Florida Southern traded points with the Eagles early for a 5-5 tie from kills by Petermann, Travis, and Porter. Each team continued with several lead changes, as Porter and Petermann sustained a great attack this set. A big block by Gilic and Shaddix led to a rare two-point lead in the third. The Eagles retook the lead by two, which Petermann broke up with a commanding kill. Another tie game, 18-18, brought intensity by both teams, as the Mocs looked to close the match. Again trading points, a 22-22 game was led by Travis, but the Eagles rallied for their first set win of the night.
4th Set | Petermann started the set with a kill and a 1-0 lead. Gilic added her own kill for 4-4 tie game. Continuing from the last set, both teams traded points with multiple lead changes and tie games. The biggest lead so far, the Mocs went up by three (12-9) built by a team effort on the attack. Petermann added another kill for another four point lead on the night. The Mocs kept a slight 17-14 lead as
Cassidy Markel joined in with a kill. Gilic, Shaddix, and Petermann continued with kills and 20-17 lead late in the fourth. A rally by Embry-Riddle led to the game tied at 20. An attack error by the Eagles halted a 4-0 run, as the Mocs regained the lead, 22-21. A tight contest, the Mocs continued the lead 23-22, before another tie game at 23 points. The Eagles notched two blocks and tie the game two sets apiece.
5th Set | A 1-1 start continued pressure on both teams in a game-deciding fifth set. Travis had a kill as the Eagles tallied errors in a 5-0 run by the Mocs (7-3 lead). The Eagles added points for a close 10-8 game, before Petermann and Gilic brought the Mocs up by four, 12-8 lead. A 2-0 run by the Eagles narrowed the deficit in a 12-10 Florida Southern lead. A huge solo block by Gilic and attack error by the Mocs led to the match point, as Travis sealed the match win in five sets.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Petermann had seven kills in set one and eight in set two as Travis had two aces the first two sets
- Petermann had a season-high 26 kills on the night, tying the conference high for a single game, with her last kill bringing her season total to 300
- Travis reached a season-high 4 service aces and Gilic had 3 aces of her own
- A close set three had 17 tie scores and 10 lead changes
- The Mocs hit .129 on the day, with 56 total kills
- Markel accounted for 46 of the team's 52 assists
- Travis led the Mocs in digs with 32, with Beatrice Formilan right behind with 27
UP NEXT
The Mocs have their last game of the season in a 4:00 PM match at home on Saturday. A senior day ceremony prior to the start of the match will celebrate the departing veterans of the team.
