LAKELAND, Fla. – The Florida Southern volleyball team improved to 3-0 against Sunshine State Conference opponents on Friday night, as the Moccasins opened their two-match weekend with a sweep of Florida Tech.
The straight-set victory is just the second of the season for the Mocs (6-1, 3-0 SSC), who have won both of their matches on their home court inside Jenkins Field House. The Panthers, meanwhile, fall to 0-11 overall and 0-3 against SSC opponents.
In Their Own Words
Head coach
Chris Keen on Friday's conference win over Florida Tech...
"We stayed resilient through some long rallies. Florida Tech is a very scrappy team that does a great job of keeping the ball off the floor. We hung in there and stayed focused through those longer rallies, which kept us going through the match.
Beatrice Formilan also had an incredible match. She led our service receive and defensive efforts, which was a huge key to tonight's win.
How It Happened
- Every set was well-contested, despite the lopsided final score.
- In the first, the Mocs didn't take the lead until a Mackenzie Petermann kill broke a 9-all tie.
- FSC won five consecutive points later to recover from a 14-13 deficit and take the lead for good at 19-14. That run included a pair of Tierra Porter kills from her position in the middle.
- Petermann, who led all outside hitters in kills (16), earned the final two points of the set with a pair of kills.
- Although the Panthers started the middle set with a 6-1 lead, Megan Carron did a fantastic job to serve the Mocs back into contention. FSC turned an 8-4 deficit into a 9-8 advantage with five unanswered points, highlighted by a pair of Carron aces.
- One of the top plays of the second was a dump set by Cassidy Markel, as Smyrna, Delaware, native dropped a no-look kill around a pair of blockers with her back towards the net. That play put FSC up, 12-11.
- Tied at 23-all, Petermann knocked down two more kills to end the set.
- The Mocs ran out to a five-point lead to start the third set and led by as many as six at 12-6.
- Florida Tech managed to even the score at 16-all, but Markel caught the Tech defense napping with a perfectly-placed dump to break the tie.
- That play sparked a run of five unanswered that all put the third out of the Panthers' reach.
Inside the Numbers
- The Mocs increased their lead in the all-time series against Florida Tech, 69-9.
- Florida Southern hit above .200 as a team for the third consecutive match.
- The Mocs finished with more aces (6-to-3), but the Panthers held a 10-to-4 lead in total blocks.
- Petermann (16) and Ali Travis (10) reached double-digit kills, while Travis produced her second double-double of the year with 10 digs.
- Erica Ronda was very efficient; the Arizona native had five kills with a .500 attack percentage in just one set played.
- Beatrice Formilan led all players with 27 digs from her libero position.
- Markel had a busy night with 42 assists, five digs, four kills, and a trio of aces.
Up Next
The Moccasins have a quick turnaround, as Florida Southern returns to Jenkins Field House on Saturday, September 25, for a 4:00 p.m. match against Barry.
