Florida Southern Opens Net Results Invite a Perfect 2-0

HILLSDALE, Mich. – The Florida Southern College volleyball team opened up play at the Net Results Invite hosted by Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Mich. The Moccasins opened the day by sweeping 2023 NCAA Elite Eight participant Clarion 3-0 before closing out the day with a hard fought 3-2 victory over Purdue Northwest.
 
The two victories push FSC's record to 4-1 on the season while Clarion fell to 2-2 on the year while PNW moved to 2-3 with the loss.
 
In the opening match of the day, the Moccasins dispatched Clarion, who advanced all the way to NCAA Elite Eight last season, in just three sets, 3-0. The match was closer than the score indicated as the Mocs and Golden Eagles battled through all three sets. Trailing 23-21 in the opening set, the Mocs rattled off four-straight points to take the opening stanza 25-23. In the second set, the Golden Eagles found themselves ahead late, 21-20, but the Mocs once again went on a run, scoring five straight points to close the set 25-21. The Mocs jumped out to a 17-11 lead in the third set and cruised away with a 25-19 victory and 3-0 match sweep.
 
As has become common in the opening weeks of the season, the Moccasins used a balanced attack to down the Golden Eagles. Six Moccasin hitters finished with three or more kills in the win with seniors Madison Fowler and Zoe Lowe leading the way. Fowler had a team-high seven kills on just 18 swings for an impressive .389 hitting percentage. She also chipped in four blocks including one solo. Lowe added a team-high tying five blocks to her six kills for a nine point effort.
 
Junior Morgan Word shared the blocking lead with Lowe with five blocks including one solo. She also added five kills on just 12 swings for a .417 hitting percentage. Freshman Lindsay Piktel made her collegiate debut with a three-kill performance on just six swings with a .333 hitting percentage. Graduate student Mackenzie Petermann and senior Kiersten Kraus each finished with three kills while Kraus added 11 assists and nine digs. Petermann added seven digs as well.
 
Freshman defensive specialist Bali Coles led the team in digs with 16 while graduate student Caroline Chambers finished with 12. Sophomore Mary Kate Mulvaney dished out a team-best 14 assists while posting six digs and a team-best four service aces.
 
FSC out-blocked Clarion 10-4 while holding the Golden Eagles to a .067 hitting percentage as a team.
 
In the second match of FSC's doubleheader, the Mocs came out strong and took a 2-0 lead over the Pride with 25-18 and 25-22 set victories. The Pride came back to win the third and fourth both by a score of 25-23. The fifth and final set was tight early but the Mocs scored six of the final seven points to take a 15-10 victory.
 
Petermann led the way in the afternoon match as she tallied 12 kills, 18 digs and four service aces for her second double-double of the season. Kraus nearly pulled off a quadruple double with nine kills, 15 assists, nine blocks and eight digs. Piktel continued with her strong play from the opening match tallying her first double-digit kill performance with 10 kills in the victory. Fowler also added 10 kills while chipping in a team-high tying nine blocks including two solo.
 
Lowe just missed out on double-digits as she had nine kills in the win. Lowe added four blocks including two solo. Mulvaney led the team with 21 assists while also picking up nine digs. Chambers returned to the top of the dig charts with 21 versus the Pride while Coles chipped in 15 for her second double-digit performance of the day.
 
The Mocs will be back in action tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. as they face the host Hillsdale. It will mark head coach Ashlee Crowder's first match as head coach of Florida Southern versus her alma mater, Hillsdale.
  Read Full Article