ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Florida Southern College volleyball team took on Eckerd College Tuesday night on the campus on Shorecrest Preparatory School in St. Petersburg, Fla., due to ongoing work at Eckerd's home court, the McArthur Center, which suffered damage during Hurricane Milton. The Moccasins were able to avenge an earlier loss to the Tritons who had defeated FSC 3-2 in Lakeland just one week ago. The Mocs came out strong and took a 2-0 lead tonight before taking the match in the fourth set, 3-1.
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The win ended a season-long three-match losing streak for the Mocs as FSC improved to 10-7 on the season including 4-5 in Sunshine State Conference play. The Tritons fell to 10-6 overall and 3-5 in league action.
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Senior
Sandra Sasaki broke out for an FSC career-high 21 kills versus the Tritons with just one hitting error on the night. With a total of 39 attacks the Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan native, posted an outstanding .513 hitting percentage while adding 10 digs, two blocks and a service ace. Senior
Zoe Lowe was next in line with nine kills while adding four blocks and a dig. She also had a string hitting night with just three errors and a .316 hitting percentage.
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Graduate student
Mackenzie Petermann added eight kills, eight digs, three blocks and two service aces. Senior
Madison Fowler had six kills on 13 swings without an error for a .462 hitting percentage. She also added two blocks.
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Defensively, junior
Morgan Word led the front line with a team-best eight blocks while adding four kills. Senior
Kiersten Kraus chipped in five blocks, including one solo, while posting a double-double with 14 assists and 10 digs. She also had four kills for another all-around performance. Graduate student
Caroline Chambers led the back line with a team-best 15 digs while sophomore
Mary Kate Mulvaney added 12 digs while leading the team with 28 assists. Both Chambers and Mulvaney had a service ace.
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FSC posted its third-best hitting performance of the season with a team hitting percentage of .259 while committing the fewest hitting errors in a four-set match this season as a team with 17. On the other hand, Eckerd was held to its third-lowest hitting percentage as a team at .128. The Mocs won the blocking battle 13-4 while Eckerd had a stringer night at the service line with nine aces compared to the Mocs' five.
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The opening set of the match saw the Mocs go on a pair of runs early including a 6-0 run midway through the period to take a 15-8 lead. FSC would cruise the rest of the set eventually forcing the first set point of the night at 24-18. The Tritons fought off two set points before a service ace ended the rally, 25-20.
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The second set was back-and-forth the entire way with both teams trading three and four-point runs eventually ending up with the set tied at 22-22. The Mocs broke the tie on a Fowler kill and forced the first set point of the second period with a Kraus kill. A service error gave the Tritons new life by a Sasaki kill ended the threat and the set, 25-23.
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The third set was nearly identical to the second, but it was the Tritons who were able to get the late rally. A Sasaki kill late in the set cut the Mocs' deficit to just one at 23-22 but the Tritons responded with back-to-back points including a set-ending service ace, 25-22.
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The fourth and final set began with big runs by both teams. The Tritons opened the period with a 6-2 spurt before the Mocs responded with a 7-0 run of their own to take a 9-6 lead. The set went back-and-forth for the next several points until the two teams found themselves tied at 16-16. A kill by Sasaki sparked a match-ending 9-1 run by the Mocs which featured six hitting errors by the Tritons with just two coming from Moccasin blocks. The match ended with FSC taking a 25-17 victory in the fourth.
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FSC will continue its season-long six-match road swing as the Mocs visit Rollins College Friday night for a 7 p.m. match. The Mocs are 102-8 all-time versus the Tars and have won 21-straight dating back to a 2013 loss in Winter Park. Â
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