Volleyball Wins Five-Set Thriller Over #20 Alaska Anchorage

FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The Florida Southern College Volleyball team knocked off No. 20 Alaska Anchorage to open the Mocs' trip to Alaska Friday afternoon at the Denali State Bank Ice Block Classic. The Moccasins opened with two strong sets, 25-23, 26-24, before going on to claim the fifth and decisive fifth set, 15-13 to pull off the 3-2 win.
 
Mackenzie Petermann tied her career-high 26 kills to lead the Mocs (4-0) on the attack while Mika Garza notched her career-high with 59 assists. Ali Travis was second on the team with 18 kills while Emma Shaddix had 11. Beatrice Formilan paced the team defensively with a team-best 25 digs ahead of Travis' 14 and Petermann's 12.
 
"Our team showed a lot of unity and composure through the entire match," Head Coach Chris Keen commented after the five-set thriller over Alaska Anchorage. "They never got rattled and kept looking to the next play. I am proud of their fight!"
 
Alaska Anchorage's (8-1) Eve Stephens paced the team with 31 kills while Ellen Floyd had a match-high 64 assists. The Seawolves rallied after dropping the first two sets with a third set 25-17 win and a fourth set 25-23 before suffering their first loss of the season.
 
Keen said, "UAA is a great team with incredible ball control. It was important for us to stay strong from the service line and try to keep them out of the system as much as we could. It was good to see our team step up to that challenge."
 
The Mocs had eight aces in the match, two from Petermann and Morgan Word while Shaddix, Travis, Formilan, and Garza all tallied one in the five sets.
 
Florida Southern will continue to play in the Denali State Bank Ice Block Classic with a matchup with host, Alaska Fairbanks Friday at 11:30 p.m. Eastern.
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