LAKELAND, Fla. – The Florida Southern College volleyball team finished off their 2021 regular season by defeating Rollins College on Senior Night in a Sunshine State Conference matchup on Saturday evening with a score of 3-0 (25-16, 25-12, 25-23). With the win, the Mocs move to 15-12 overall and 11-9 in SSC play. The Tars close out their season with a 6-23 finish on the year and 2-17 in conference action.
HOW IT HAPPENED
1st Set | The Tars score first, but a big block from senior Tierra Porter ties the game at 1-1 to start the game off with an early rally. Mackenzie Petermann ends the rally with back-to-back kills, followed by an ace from Cassidy Markel to make it 7-3 in favor of the Mocs. FSC continued their strong blocking as Jana Gilic and Emma Shaddix added a block to their resume for set one. Libero, Beatrice Formilan went on a run to make it a six-point lead for Florida Southern with three consecutive service aces to make it 14-8. The Moccasins would continue putting pressure on the Tars until the final two points of the sets came from back-to-back blocks from Porter and Shaddix to give the Mocs the first win.
2nd Set | Florida Southern went on a 4-0 run to start the second set off as seniors, Porter had two consecutive kills and an ace by Erica Ronda. Rollins tried to make a come back cutting FSC lead down to just a one-point lead but the Mocs never let up as Formilian collected her fourth service ace of the match to make it 10-5. Petermann and company continued to build on their momentum as the sophomore went on a kill streak to bring the Mocs lead to 13-6. Markel added another ace to her stats for her second of the match to make it a 15-9 margin between the Mocs and Tars. Gilic continued her best serving from the night to make the set two a 19-11 decision after her ace. Porter finished the set for the Mocs the way she started with a big kill to finish set to with a score of 25-12.
3rd Set | The Tars started on top with a 1-0 lead but a Porter kill gave FSC the lead at the 2-1 mark, and 3-2 mark before Porter moved to the back row and collected her first dig of the match. FSC and Rollins rallied to 12-11 as the Tars cut the Mocs lead down from a six-point lead to just one before a timeout for Florida Southern. Rollins was able to tie the game at 12-12 but a kill from Travis broke the tie giving the Mocs a 13-12 lead. The Tars tied the game up again at 13-all before going on a run to take a 19-15 lead. With the Mocs down 22-18, FSC went on a late run tying the set up at 22-22. Tars would win the next point, but Porter was not going to settle being down and tied the game at 23-all with a massive kill in front of the 10-foot line. Porter finished the match for the Moccasins with a final kill to close out the match 25-23.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Petermann and Porter led the first set with three kills apiece, followed by Shaddix with two kills.
- In set one, the Mocs and Tars show three score ties and just one lead change in the favor of FSC after the start of the set.
- Defensively, Florida Southern led with six total blocks, the only solo block coming from Porter, while Formilan had six digs.
- In set two, Petermann finished with a total of five kills followed by Porter with four.
- Porter led the way offensively for the Mocs with 12 kills and picked up four blocks on the day.
- Petermann was right behind Porter, with 10 kills, followed by Shaddix with five and Travis with four.
- Markel accounted for all of the team assist with 32 also having five digs in the match.
- Formilan led the Mocs in digs with 18 followed by Petermann and Travis with six apiece.
UP NEXT
The Mocs await if they will be selected for the NCAA Regionals, which will be announced on Monday.
