Mocs Conclude Season at NCAA Regional

TAMPA, Fla. – The Florida Southern volleyball team made its return to the NCAA South Region Tournament Friday afternoon as the No. 7 seed Mocs faced off against the No. 2 seed Lynn inside the Bob Martinez Athletics Center on the campus of the University of Tampa. It marked the first appearance by the Mocs at the regional since 2018.
 
The Fighting Knights and Mocs battled through three lopsided sets with the Fighting Knights taking strong victories in the first and third sets with the Mocs earning a dominating victory in the second set. With the match on the line both teams battled close early in the fourth set but a big run by the Fighting Knights opened things up before Lynn held on for the victory.
 
The loss gives Florida Southern a final record of 15-15 on the season while the Fighting Knights improved to 24-5 and advance to the region semifinals where they will face No. 3 seed Barry Saturday night.
 
Junior Mackenzie Petermann led the way Friday for the Mocs as she tallied 15 kills, 10 digs and a pair of service aces. The double-double marked Petermann's ninth of the season. Senior Jana Gilic added seven kills and a team-high tying five blocks. She hit .353 for the match with just one hitting error. Sophomore Madison Fowler chipped in six kills and a pair of blocks.
 
Senior setter Mika Garza handed out 30 assists and posted 10 digs for her team-leading 12^th double-double of the season. It also marked her sixth-straight match with a double-double. Graduate student Beatrice Formilan led the back line with 16 digs and a pair of service aces. Fellow graduate student Emma Shaddix tied with Gilic for the team lead in blocks with five.
 
Nadia Lindner led the Fighting Knights with 19 kills while Paige Barash and Monica Mazzoleni each added 13 kills to the effort.
 
Lynn posted a team hitting percentage of .293 over the match while holding the Mocs to a .104 mark. Lynn edged Florida Southern in blocks (8-7) while taking a 76-53 lead in digs.
 
The Fighting Knights used a strong opening set performance to take the opening period 25-14. The second set was nearly the opposite with the Mocs dominating play until a late run by the Fighting Knights cut the final score to 25-20. Lynn picked up were it left off in the first set and end of the second set and rolled to a 25-13 victory in the third. The fourth was by far the most competitive but a 13-3 run by the Fighting Knights blew open the set and gave the Fighting Knights a 25-17 victory.
 
Florida Southern will be without the services of Formilan, Garza and Shaddix in 2023 the majority of the 2022 roster is scheduled to return with several Mocs opting for a fifth-year after the loss of the 2020 season due to COVID-19.
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