Florida Southern Blanks Florida Tech on Family Day

LAKELAND, Fla. – The Florida Southern volleyball team celebrated Family Day during its match against Florida Tech Saturday afternoon. The family members joined their student-athletes on the court for the National Anthem and lineups and were presented roses from their favorite Moccasins. The team went on to play on of its top matches of the year as the Mocs downed the visiting Panthers 3-0 in little over an hour. FSC hit over .370 over the opening two sets before finishing the match with a .295 hitting percentage, the highest percentage for the Mocs since the Sept. 17 match versus Saint Leo.
 
The victory is the fourth-in-a-row for the Mocs, matching their longest win streak of the season. FSC improved to 13-8 overall and 6-5 in Sunshine State Conference play. The Panthers fell to 12-10 overall and 4-7 in league play.
 
Senior Ali Travis led the offensive attack with 11 kills on 30 swings with just three errors for a .267 hitting percentage. She added nine digs, a block and a service ace. Senior Jana Gilic tied her season-high in kills with nine in the match off of just 16 swings for an incredible .562 hitting percentage. She also led the team with a pair of service aces while posting two blocks including one solo stop. Junior Mackenzie Petermann also added nine kills on 23 swings with a pair of errors to finish with a .304 hitting percentage in the match. She also had a team-high 17 digs to register her seventh double-double of the season.
 
Sophomore Madison Fowler came up one kill shy of tying a career-high as she tallied seven in the match to go along with a team-best three blocks. Graduate student Emma Shaddix was the only other Moc to register a kill as she finished with six in the match to go along with two blocks, a dig and a service ace.
 
Senior Mika Garza handed out 39 assists over the three sets as she held down the setter position. She also chipped in a service ace, six digs and one block. Graduate student libero Beatrice Formilan added 11 digs and a service ace to the effort as well.
 
The opening set looks like it was going to be a back-and-forth battle but with the set tied at 7-7, the Mocs began an 18-5 run which closed the set with a score of 25-12. The Mocs hit an impressive .455 in the opening set while registering just two hitting errors and holding the Panthers to just five kills.
 
The second set began much like the first and again with the set tied early, 5-5, the Mocs went on a 7-2 run to open up a five-point lead. The Mocs would continue to stretch their lead the rest of the way eventually tallying a 25-16 victory. FSC once again had a strong offensive set with 14 kills on 29 swings with just three errors for a percentage of .379. Once again the Mocs defense stood strong holding the Panthers to just seven kills and a .032 hitting percentage.
 
The third set was the closest of the match as the score remained tight late into the period. Leading 19-18 late in the set, the Mocs closed out the match with a 6-1 run capturing a 25-19 victory. FSC hit just .116 in the set but once again held the Panthers below .100 at .062.
 
For the match, the Mocs tallied seven service aces compared to the Panthers two. FSC also out-blocked FT 5-3. The Mocs dominated in hitting percentage .295-.027.
 
FSC will be back in action Tuesday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. as the Mocs travel to No. 8 Tampa for another SSC match-up.
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