Mocs Earn SSC Sweep on the Road

MELBOURNE, Fla. – The Florida Southern volleyball team earned its first Sunshine State Conference victory of the season Thursday night as the Moccasins defeated Florida Tech on the road 3-0. The Mocs saw junior Mackenzie Petermann have arguably the best match of the season so far with 20 kills in just three sets of action while committing only four errors. The Richmond Hill, Ga. native also took care of business in the back row as she led the team with 15 digs, tallying her third double-double of the season.
 
The victory pushes the Mocs' record to 6-4 on the season including 1-2 in SSC play. The Panthers fall to 6-6 overall and 1-3 in league action.
 
Petermann led the offensive effort with an impressive .410 hitting percentage to go along with her double-digit kills and digs. Senior Ali Travis added eight kills and nine digs while sophomore Madison Fowler chipped in seven kills and a solo block. Fowler did not commit a single hitting error and finished with a .467 hitting percentage.
 
Graduate student Emma Shaddix and freshman Morgan Word shared the team lead with four blocks each. Shaddix had one solo and three block assists while Word tallied four block assists. The pair added six and five kills, respectively, as well.
 
Graduate student libero Beatrice Formilan came away with 13 digs to finish just two behind Petermann while senior setter Mika Garza dished out 37 assists in just three sets of action.
 
The Mocs out-hit the Panthers .275 to .155 while also edging them by one in service aces (4-3) and blocks (6-5). Both teams finished with 48 total digs.
 
Florida Southern won the match in straight sets 25-23, 25-18 and 25-21.
 
The opening set saw the Mocs jump out to an early lead and it look as if they would coast to the opening set victory but the Panthers had other plans. With FSC leading 18-12, the Panthers went on an 8-1 run to take a 20-19 lead. Three-straight from the Mocs including two kills from Petermann and one by Fowler pushed the Mocs back into the lead at 22-20. A quick two points from Florida Tech tied the set at 22 before a Petermann kill pushed FSC back ahead 23-22. The Panthers once again tied the set at 23-23 on a kill of their own before a Travis kill followed by a bad set from Florida Tech ended the period 25-23 in favor of the Mocs.
 
The second set had much less drama as both teams kept it close early until a small run by the Mocs opened up a four-point lead for FSC midway through the period. The margin would stay above three points the rest of the way as the Mocs went on for the 25-18 victory.
 
The third set opened with a 5-0 run by the Mocs followed by a 4-0 run from the Panthers. The set would remain close the rest of the way with both teams having little runs throughout. FSC was up 21-18 late in the set before FT went on a short 3-1 run to cut the lead to just one. The Mocs responded with three-straight points to close out the match including back-to-back kills from Petermann and Shaddix to end it, 25-21.
 
Florida Southern will next be in action this Saturday, Sept. 17 at 4 p.m. as the Mocs travel to Saint Leo to take on the Lions in another Sunshine State Conference match-up.
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