MELBOURNE, Fla. – The Florida Southern College volleyball team survived a scare on the road Saturday afternoon as the Moccasins outlasted the Panthers of Florida Tech, 3-2. Senior
Mackenzie Petermann led the way with a massive double-double as she tallied 20 kills and 20 digs in the victory.
The victory is the fourth-straight for the Mocs who improved their record to 10-5 overall and 5-4 in Sunshine State Conference play. The Panthers fell to 5-11 on the year and 1-7 in league action.
In addition to her 20 kills and 20 digs, Petermann also added a block to her total. The double-double marked the 23
rd of her career. Graduate student
Elena Djokovic added 16 kills and 11 digs for her fourth double-double of the season. She also added three blocks, including one solo, and a service ace. The Belgrade, Serbia native had just one hitting error the entire match while finishing with an impressive .341 hitting percentage. Junior
Madison Fowler nearly picked up a double-double with 13 kills and a team-best nine blocks including two solo stops. The Detroit, Mich. native also had only one attack error while hitting a team-best .444 for the match.
Junior
Kiersten Kraus made a valiant effort for her second-consecutive triple-double as she handed out 19 assists, posted 10 digs and secured seven kills. She also chipped in three blocks as well. Senior libero
Caroline Chambers earned a career-high 25 digs in the back row while serving up a pair of aces. Freshman setter
Mary Kate Mulvaney led the team with 29 assists while earning eight digs.
The Mocs and Panthers were nearly identical in every statistical category except blocking where the Mocs held a commanding 13-5 edge. The Mocs won the first (25-22), third (25-17) and fifth (15-9) sets while the Panthers took home wins in the second (25-20) and fourth (25-20) sets.
The first set saw the Mocs pull away with an early lead. The lead would continue to grow until it ballooned to 17-12 midway through the period. The Panthers exploded for a 6-0 spurt to take an 18-17 lead. The Mocs and Panthers would battle until the Mocs, who were trailing 22-21, went on a 4-0 run to secure the opening set 25-22. Kraus secured the final two kills of the set to give the Mocs the early advantage.
The second set started out close but with the score knotted at 8-8 the Panthers went on a 6-1 run to open up a 14-9 lead. The Panthers would not relinquish the advantage the rest of the way with the Mocs only getting to within two points on one occasion. The Panthers cruised to a 25-20 victory.
The third set started like the first two with both teams battling early. With FSC trailing 8-6, the Mocs began a 13-3 run to take a 19-11 lead. The Panthers attempted to make a late rally but kills by Petermann and Djokovic closed out the set at 25-17.
The fourth set saw the Mocs take an early lead but the Panthers battled back. With the score knotted at 12-12, the Panthers went on a 6-0 run to open up an 18-12 advantage. The Mocs used a quick 4-0 run to cut the deficit to just two but the Panthers responded by scoring six of the next seven points to force the first set point of the period at 24-17. A kill by Djokovic, followed by an ace and capped off by a Djokovic and Fowler block fought off three set points for the Mocs but the Panthers closed out the set on a kill of their own, 25-20.
The fifth set once again started with back-and-forth action. Trailing 4-3, the Mocs began a 5-1 run to open up an 8-5 lead at the changeover. After the switch, the Panthers scored four of the next six points to cut the deficit to 10-9. After the late scare, the Mocs rattled off five-straight points to secure the victory for head coach
Ashlee Crowder who faced her former team for the first time since leaving Melbourne following the 2022 season. Petermann secured three kills in the final five-point run while Fowler secured a kill and a solo block to give the Mocs the victory.
Florida Southern will be back in action this Tuesday, Oct. 10 as the Mocs travel to No. 3 Tampa for another Sunshine State Conference match. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.
