Mocs Suffer First SSC Loss of the Season to #4 Tampa

LAKELAND, Fla. – The Florida Southern College volleyball team suffered its first Sunshine State Conference loss of the season Saturday afternoon inside George W. Jenkins Field House to fourth-ranked Tampa, 3-0. The Moccasins battled early in the opening two sets before late runs by the Spartans gave them a 2-0 lead in the match. The third set looked to be going FSC's way before another late rally by the Spartans ended the match in three.
 
The loss drops FSC's record to 6-2 on the season and evens out the SSC record at 1-1. The Spartans improved to 8-0 including 2-0 in league action.
 
Senior Mackenzie Petermann and junior Kiersten Kraus led the way for the Mocs as they each chipped in eight kills on the day. Petermann added 10 digs, a block and a service ace while Kraus earned her fifth double-double of the season with 10 assists and 13 digs, coming just two kills shy of her second career triple-double. Kraus also earned a pair of blocks.
 
Junior Madison Fowler added six kills and two blocks to the effort while senior Emily Crescenzi and junior Zoe Lowe each had four kills. Crescenzi led the defensive effort at the net with a team-high four blocks while Lowe chipped in three including the lone solo block for the Mocs. Junior libero Megan Carron picked up 12 digs while freshman setter Mary Kate Mulvaney earned her first career double-double with team-highs in assists (15) and digs (14).
 
The Mocs hit just .164 as a squad while the Spartans hit .230. FSC won the blocking battle 7-5 while the Spartans controlled the backline, out-digging the Mocs 67-54.
 
FSC opened the match with a quick 7-3 run but Tampa quickly answered with a 7-1 run of its own to take a 10-8 lead. The Mocs battled back to tie the set at 11 but a 6-0 run by the Spartans put Tampa in control at 17-11. FSC was only able to cut the deficit to five, twice, before the Spartans closed out the set at 25-17.
 
The second set was much like the first with both teams trading runs throughout. The Mocs took their largest lead in the period due to a 6-0 run, leading 11-8. The Spartans immediately answered the run with a 5-0 spurt of their own to retake a two-point advantage at 13-11. The Mocs took their final lead of the stanza at 16-15 before a 10-1 run by the Spartans gave the preseason favorites a 25-17 second set victory.
 
The third set opened with a kill by the Spartans but the Mocs quickly responded with a 6-0 run powered in part by two kills from Kraus, a service ace from Petermann, a kill from Lowe and a block from Fowler and Lowe. The Spartans responded with four-straight points of their won to cut the lead to just one. The two teams traded points for the next several rallies until a 4-0 run by the Spartans gave Tampa its first lead of the set since the 1-0 start at 13-12. The two teams traded the next four points before a 5-1 run by the Mocs regained the advantage for the home team at 19-16. The Mocs continued to lead and eventually took a 23-20 advantage looking to secure its first set victory of the match. Down three, the Sparatns took advantage of a service error before back-to-back service aces from Kalli Cors tied the set at 23-23. An attack error gave the Mocs their first set point of the night but back-to-back kills by the Spartans forced the first match point of the match at 25-24. The Spartans would close out the match on the next rally as Tess Schrenger was able to get a kill past the FSC defense closing the match at 26-24.
 
Florida Southern will next be in action as the Mocs hit the road for the first time in conference play this season. FSC will travel to Lynn on Friday, Sept. 22 before heading to No. 22 Barry on Saturday, Sept. 23.  
 
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