Moccasins Upset #14 Lewis to Close Out FSC Volleyball Classic

LAKELAND, Fla. – The Florida Southern College volleyball team closed out action at the 2024 FSC Volleyball Classic by splitting a pair of matches Saturday. FSC opened the day with a tough match-up against Augusta, who received votes in the AVCA Preseason Poll, before taking down No. 14 Lewis in the final match of the tournament.
 
In the opener, the Mocs fell 3-1 to the visiting Jaguars of Augusta who closed out the FSC Volleyball Classic with a perfect 3-0 record. In the final match of the day, the Mocs took down the Flyers of Lewis, 3-1 to move FSC's overall record to 2-1 on the year.
 
In the upset victory over No. 14 Lewis, all six of the Moccasin hitters finished with seven or more kills. Graduate student Mackenzie Petermann led the way with 12 kills and 17 digs for her first double-double of the season. Senior Madison Fowler finished just behind Petermann with 11 kills while posting a team-best five blocks including two solo. Senior Zoe Lowe continued the string of double-digit kill performances as she had 10 in the victory. Senior Sandra Sasaki finished just behind with nine kills while also digging up 15 balls.
 
The final two Moc hitters finished with seven kills each and that included junior Morgan Word and senior Kiersten Kraus. Kraus added 18 assists, 12 digs and three blocks for a well-rounded performance while Word chipped in four digs and a pair of blocks.
 
Kraus and sophomore Mary Kate Mulvaney split time at setter with Mulvaney finishing with a team-best 21 assists while also digging up 12 balls for her second double-double of the day. Graduate student libero Caroline Chambers picked up a team-best 21 digs in the victory while also securing an ace and eight assists.
 
FSC nearly swept the nationally-ranked Flyers as the Mocs took the opening two sets 25-19 and 25-22 before finding themselves leading 18-16 late in the third. The Flyers went on to score nine of the next 11 points to take the third 25-20. The Mocs would not be deterred as they came out strong in the fourth and jumped out to a 10-4 lead early in the set. The Mocs maintained the lead the rest of the way eventually capturing a 25-18 victory.
 
The Mocs hit .205 as a team in the victory while holding the Flyers to .104. FSC won the blocking battle 8-5 and also out-dug the Flyers 85-84.
 
Petermann led the way against the Jaguars in the opening match as she finished with a team-best 14 kills while also picking up seven digs and three blocks. Sasaki just missed out on double figures as she finished with nine kills while digging up four balls and picking up two blocks.
 
Mulvaney earned the first double-double of the season for the Mocs as she finished with 11 assists and 11 digs in the loss. Chambers led the team in digs with 14.
 
Augusta and Florida Southern combined for 33 blocks in the match with Augusta tallying 20 blocks and the Mocs posting 13. Fowler led the in the blocking department with eight stops including one solo while Word and Kraus tied for second with five blocks each.
 
The Jaguars took the opening two sets 25-22 and 25-10 before the Mocs rallied in the third to win 25-23. Augusta closed out the match with a 25-21 victory in the fourth.
 
The Mocs hit just .012 in the match with 38 kills and 36 errors.  
 
FSC will be back in action September 13-14 at the Net Results Invite hosted by Hillsdale in Hillsdale, Mich. The Mocs will take on Clarion, Purdue Northwest and the host Hillsdale over the two day event.
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