Sasaki Leads Mocs in Sweep of Rollins

WINTER PARK, Fla. – The Florida Southern College volleyball team returned to action Friday night on the road at Rollins College. FSC swept the host Tars in straight-sets, 25-18, 25-18 and 25-21. The Mocs were once again led by senior Sandra Sasaki who finished the match with a team-best 17 kills on 29 swings while posting a .448 hitting percentage.
 
The victory for the Mocs evened out their Sunshine State Conference record to 5-5 while their overall mark moved to 11-7. The Tars fell to 12-11 overall and 3-9 in league play.
 
Sasaki not only led the team with 17 kills but she also chipped in 10 digs and a service ace, good for her second career double-double in an FSC uniform. Graduate student Mackenzie Petermann finished second on the squad in both kills (8) and service aces (3) while adding a block and four digs. Senior Zoe Lowe made the most of her chances as she collected kills on half of her 10 swings for a total of five while posting a .400 hitting percentage. Lowe also added a block and two digs.
 
Sophomore setter Mary Kate Mulvaney dished out a team-best 18 assists while digging up one ball. Senior Kiersten Kraus added 14 assists, three digs, two blocks and a service ace. Graduate student libero Caroline Chambers led the backline with 14 digs while adding two service aces and six digs. Junior Morgan Word was a force at the service line with a team-best five service aces while also collecting two blocks at the net.
 
Rollins did not have a single hitter reach double-figures with Lana Gerard and Emma Gongora leading the way with nine kills each.
 
FSC posted its third-best hitting performance of the season finishing at .264 including an outstanding second set where the Mocs posted 16 kills on 30 swings with just three errors for a match-best .433. The Tars were held to .119 including a negative percentage in the opening set.
 
FSC dominated the service line with 12 aces compared to just two for the Tars. Rollins won the blocking battle 7-5 while the Mocs had the advantage in digs 41-33.
 
The opening set featured big runs by both teams but with the score in the Mocs favor 19-18, FSC went on a 6-0 run to close out the set behind the serve of Sasaki, 25-18. The second set saw the Mocs get up early and never look back eventually scoring the final two points of the set including a set-clinching kill from Sasaki at 25-18. The third set was very similar to the second with the Mocs getting up big and holding off a surging Rollins squad. FSC picked up match point at 24-19 but the Tars were able to get back-to-back kills to fight off two match points but once again a Sasaki kill ended the set, 25-21.
 
The Mocs continue their season-long six-match road trip with a match at Embry-Riddle Saturday, Nov. 2 at 4 p.m.
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