LAKELAND, Fla. – The first official NCAA Division II volleyball region rankings were released Wednesday afternoon with the Florida Southern College volleyball team coming in at fifth in the South Region. The Moccasins have advanced to 33 NCAA Championships including last season's NCAA South Regional.
 
The University of Tampa holds the top spot in the rankings followed by Eckerd and Lynn to round out the top-three. Embry-Riddle (4^th), Florida Southern (5^th) and Nova Southeastern (6^th) give the Sunshine State Conference all six of the top spots in the region. The University of West Florida, out of the Gulf South Conference, is the first non-SSC program on the list and the Argonauts come in at seventh followed by Spring Hill out of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) who ranks eighth. A pair of GSC programs round out the top-10 with UAH and Auburn Montgomery ranking ninth and 10^th, respectively.
 
Members of the SSC won all but four matches versus members of the GSC at this year's South Region Crossover in Orlando with Lee, Mississippi College, Auburn Montgomery and West Florida each earning one victory at the event.
 
The 2023 Florida Southern volleyball team is under the direction of first year head coach Ashlee Crowder and the Moccasins have compiled a record of 16-9 on the year including a season-opening sweep of nationally-ranked Washburn. The Mocs have won two-straight entering this weekend and close the year with two matches at home followed by a pair of matches on the road.
 
Senior Mackenzie Petermann leads the squad with a 3.73 kills per set average and she is flanked by graduate student Elena Djokovic (2.34 kps) and junior Kiersten Kraus (2.05 kps) who are first year members of the squad but have made an immediate impact. Senior libero Caroline Chambers has held down the back row while the block has been spearheaded by a three-headed attack including junior Madison Fowler, senior Emily Crescenzi and graduate student Jana Gilic. Freshman setter Mary Kate Mulvaney has stepped in from day one to help facilitate the offensive attack for the Mocs.
 
The official NCAA Division II Volleyball Championship selection show will take place Monday, Nov. 20 at 7:30 p.m.
 
FSC will return to action this Friday, Nov. 10 as the Mocs host Florida Tech in a Sunshine State Conference match beginning at 7 p.m.