Mocs Drop Road Match at #9 Tampa

TAMPA, Fla. – The Florida Southern College volleyball team fell Tuesday night on the road at the ninth-ranked University of Tampa Spartans, 3-1. The Moccasins came out strong and took the opening set before the Spartans rattled off three straight victories for their 21^st win of the season. Once again seniors Sandra Sasaki and Madison Fowler led the offensive effort for FSC as they each picked up double-digit kills in the loss.
 
The defeat drops Florida Southern's record to 12-11 on the year and 6-9 in Sunshine State Conference play. The Spartans, who have lost just twice this season, move to 21-2 overall and 13-2 in league action.
 
Sasaki led the way Tuesday night with 11 kills and 10 digs. She also chipped in a service ace. Fowler finished with 10 kills, a block and a dig. Senior Kiersten Kraus added six kills and three digs as she moved into a fulltime outside hitter role. Graduate student Mackenzie Petermann was fourth on the team with five kills while tying for second on the squad in digs with 10.
 
Sophomore setter Mary Kate Mulvaney dished out a team-best 18 assists while digging up a team-high 11 balls. Freshman Mallory Baruch, who has taken over the setting duties left behind from Kraus, handed out 14 assists while grabbing four digs.
 
The Spartans were led by a trio of hitters in double-figures including Kalli Cors (14), Nathaly Perez (11) and Tess Schrenger (11).
 
The Mocs hit just .099 as a team which is the second-lowest hitting percentage by the FSC squad this season. The Spartans on the other hand posted a .287 hitting percentage which is the fourth highest against the Mocs this season.
 
Both teams finished with three service aces in the match but the Mocs had 11 service errors as compared to seven from the hosts. Tampa took a commanding 12-3 lead in blocks and also posted a double-digit advantage in digs at 66-55.
 
The Mocs came out and had on of their top hitting performances of the season in the opening set collecting 17 of their 25 points off of kills while committing just three errors. The team hit .389 as a squad in the period. FSC jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead in the period including a trio of kills by Sasaki. The Mocs lead eventually ballooned to 22-13 before the Spartans began to find their momentum. Tampa scored seven of the next eight points to cut the lead to just three at 23-20. A timely kill by Petermann ended the run but Kors immediately responded with a kill of her own to put the score at 24-21. Fowler closed out the set off a Mulvaney set at 25-21.
 
The second set started off strong for the Mocs as they jumped out to a 5-3 lead. The Spartans had other plans as Tampa began a 13-2 run to open up a 16-7 advantage. The Mocs answered with back-to-back kills from Petermann and senior Zoe Lowe but once again the Spartans responded with a quick 4-1 spurt to put the score at 20-10. The Mocs put together a short rally, scoring five of the next seven points to cut the deficit to 22-15. The Spartans then secured the final three points of the set for a 25-15 victory.
 
The third set opened with an attack error by the Spartans but Tampa then went on to score 12 unanswered points before the Mocs notched the scoreboard again. The Spartans later put together an 8-0 run before eventually taking a 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-8 third set victory.
 
The fourth set was tight early on but with the score knotted at nine-all, the Spartans began an 8-2 run to open up a 17-11 lead. The Mocs later used a short 3-0 spurt to cut the deficit to 22-20 but a service error sparked a 3-0 run by the Spartans to close the match at 25-20.
 
The Mocs will be back in action tomorrow night, Nov. 13, on the road at Saint Leo. The match is a make-up for the originally scheduled match on Sept. 27 which was postponed due to Hurricane Helene. The original make-up date of Oct. 8 was then pushed back to Nov. 13 due to Hurricane Milton. The match is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start inside the Marion Bowman Activities Center on the campus of Saint Leo University.
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