Mocs Tame Lions on the Road, 3-0

SAINT LEO, Fla. – The Florida Southern College volleyball team returned to the win column Wednesday night as the Moccasins took down Saint Leo University, 3-0, on the road. The dynamic duo of seniors Sandra Sasaki and Madison Fowler once again led the way Wednesday night as they each reach double-digit kills in the three-set victory.
 
The win moves Florida Southern's record to 13-11 including 7-9 in Sunshine State Conference play. The Lions fall to 5-18 on the season and 1-14 in league action. The Mocs and Lions will meet in less than a week in Lakeland as Saint Leo returns the visit next Tuesday, Nov. 19 for a 7 p.m. match.
 
Sasaki posted her eighth-straight double-digit kill performance with a team-best 13 in the match while hitting just two errors. She posted a .393 hitting percentage while adding three digs. Fowler chipped in 10 kills, three blocks and three digs. She had just one hitting error and finished with an impressive .600 hitting percentage.
 
Senior Zoe Lowe added eight kills and four digs while committing just two hitting errors for a .462 percentage night, her second-highest this season. Graduate student Mackenzie Petermann finished one kill back with seven while also adding 12 digs, a service ace and a block. Petermann committed just one hitting error as well and finished at .462 for the night, her highest percentage of the season. Senior Kiersten Kraus led the team in blocks with four while also chipping in five kills and three digs.
 
Sophomore setter Mary Kate Mulvaney dished out 20 assists while digging up one ball and securing one service ace. Freshman setter Mallory Baruch added 15 assists, a dig and a service ace as well. Graduate student libero Caroline Chambers finished with 10 digs and two assists.
 
The Lions were led by Oliwia Durka who finished the match with 10 kills while Anyaliz Rodriguez chipped in nine.
 
The Mocs hit .388 as a squad, the highest this season for FSC, while the Lions finished at .183. Saint Leo won the serving battle with seven aces compared to FSC's three while FSC committed 12 service errors compared to just six by the Lions. It was a 19-9 advantage in points from the service line between the Lions and Mocs. SLU also edged the Mocs in blocks 7-5 but it was FSC who won the digs (41-32) and kills (49-30).
 
The opening set looked like it may be a runaway for the Mocs as they opened the road match with an 8-1 run. FSC maintained the lead for the majority of the set but a 5-0 spurt by the hosts gave Saint Leo a 20-19 lead late. The two teams traded the next eight points to wind up at the first set point of the night, 24-23 in favor of Saint Leo. A kill by Sasaki, followed by a kill from Lowe and a bad set from the Lions and FSC claimed the opening set 26-24.
 
The second set was back and forth early but a 7-1 run by the Mocs late opened up a 22-16 lead for FSC. Sasaki provided three kills in the run, junior Morgan Word added two, Lowe chipped in one and Baruch picked up a service ace. After Saint Leo took two of the next three points, a service error followed by a Mulvaney service ace ended the set, 25-18.
 
The third set did not feature any big runs as the Mocs just slowly and methodically pulled away from the Lions in the final frame. FSC's biggest lead in the set was 21-13 but the Lions battled back to cut the deficit to just six late but an attack error ended the run, 25-19.
 
Florida Southern will play its final regular season road match of the year this Saturday, Nov. 16 as the Mocs travel to 21^st-ranked Barry for a 4 p.m. match.
 
 
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