Petermann Paces Mocs in Sweep of Saint Leo

SAINT LEO, Fla. – For the second-straight match, the Florida Southern volleyball team earned a 3-0 sweep this time on the road at Saint Leo. The Mocs have now earned five 3-0 sweeps this season and today's performance may have been their best of the season. Florida Southern committed a season-low six hitting errors the entire match while posting a team hitting percentage of .321. Defensively, FSC posted nine blocks which was just one shy of the season-best which has occurred twice this season, once in the four-set victory over Lander and in the five-set thrilled versus No. 20 Alaska Anchorage.
 
The victory improves Florida Southern's record to 7-4 on the season including 2-2 in Sunshine State Conference play. The Lions dropped to 5-7 overall and 1-3 in league action.
 
Junior Mackenzie Petermann led the Florida Southern effort as she posted a match-high 12 kills on 34 swings with zero errors. She finished with a .353 hitting percentage while adding a block assist, a service ace and four digs. Senior Ali Travis chipped in eight kills on 17 swings for a .471 hitting percentage. She led the team with three service aces while adding 10 digs and a pair of blocks.
 
Junior Cassidy Markel returned from an injury to make her first appearance of the season. Markley split time at setter with senior Mika Garza. Markel finished the match with 17 assists and four digs while Garza posted 19 assists, 12 digs and one service ace.  Graduate student libero Beatrice Formilan led the team with 21 digs from the back line while handing out two assists.
 
Sophomore Madison Fowler led the defensive effort at the net as she assisted on a team-best six blocks while adding three kills. Senior Madison Barton earned a career-high six kills in the victory as she tripled her previous career-total of two kills.
 
The Mocs dominated the match out-hitting the Lions .321 to .098. Florida Southern held the Lions below a .050 hitting percentage over the final two sets where Saint Leo hit .029 in the second set and .022 in the third set. FSC out-blocked SLU 9-3 while both teams finished with 57 digs.
 
Saint Leo held as much as a three-point lead early in the opening set against the Mocs but a 7-1 run by FSC midway through the set opened things up for the Mocs. FSC led 16-13 after the run and never relinquished the lead the rest of the set. Saint Leo got within one point three times down the stretch but back-to-back kills from senior Jana Gilic and Fowler ended the opening set in FSC's favor 25-22.
 
The second set was back-and-forth early but down 6-5, the Mocs began a 14-5 run to open up a 19-11 lead. Saint Leo went on to score three points down the stretch but the Mocs cruised to a 25-14 victory.
 
The third set was all FSC as the Mocs opened the period with a 10-2 run and they never looked back. Saint Leo was only get as close as a four-point deficit the rest of the way as a block from graduate student Emma Shaddix and Fowler ended the set and match at 25-17.
 
Florida Southern will return to the friendly confines of George W. Jenkins Field House this Thursday, Sept. 22 as the Mocs host Nova Southeastern in a 7 p.m. match.
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