Beach Volleyball Advances to Day Two of SSC Tournament

SAINT LEO, Fla. - The Florida Southern College beach volleyball team opened the inaugural Sunshine State Conference tournament going 2-1 on day one at the courts of Saint Leo University. The Mocs (20-9) won the first match 3-1 against Eckerd College before falling to the top seed the University of Tampa 3-0 to send them into the consolation bracket.  FSC stayed alive and eliminated Barry University 3-0 to advance to day two. 
 
FLORIDA SOUTHERN 3, ECKERD 1 
FSC earned the early point winning flight #3 as reigning All-SSC second team members Reagan Carlton and Zoe Lowe defeated the Tritons, 21-19, followed by a dominating 21-7 final. 
 
Eckerd tied the game winning the #4 flight, but the Mocs went on to win the next two as top flight Emma Winford and Ashli McKenny won in three sets 14-21, 21-15, 15-9 to take a 2-1 lead. Looking for just one more win to clinch it came down to the final two courts as both were in the third set. Hayley St. Martin and Mary Olivia Muti sealed the Mocs first win as the #5 flight won 21-18, 15-21, and 15-13 to end the match with a 3-1 win and head to face the Spartans. 
 
FLORIDA SOUTHERN 0, TAMPA 3
With the Mocs already a game in, the Spartans hit the courts with fresh legs winning three matches to clinch a win. In the first meeting between these two teams this year, Tampa opened with a win on court #2 where the SSC Pairs of the Year Nevaeh Wolfe and Hailey Wolfe won over Sydney Melcher and Nicole Eden with a 21-11, 21-16 final score to get a 1-0 lead. 
 
On court five, St. Martin and Muti fell to 21-11, 21-13 to give the Spartans a 2-0 advantage before Tampa clinched the final win to move on winning 21-12, 21-15 at the fourth flight to make it 3-0 and give FSC another match to play to stay alive. 
 
FLORIDA SOUTHERN 3, BARRY 0 
In the second meeting of the year for the Bucs and Mocs, it was FSC who came out on top once again winning 3-0 to clinch and move on to day two of the SSC tournament.
 
The Mocs earned a 1-0 lead at the #3 flight with Lowe and Carlton starting off strong once again winning, 21-11, 21-14. Florida Southern continued to battle it out on all courts winning the next point as court four another All-SSC second team members Hailey Carefoot and Isabella Muti won 21-13, 21-11 to make it 2-0. 
 
With the Mocs just needing one more win to clinch, it was court five that kept FSC alive to play day two as St. Martin and Muti won 21-11, 21-13 to win 3-0. 
 
Florida Southern advances to play tomorrow afternoon as the Mocs face Palm Beach Atlantic in the consolation bracket. The first serve is scheduled for 11:30 a.m.