LAKELAND, Fla. — Florida Southern College volleyball (10-9, 5-6 Sunshine State) lost to Nova Southeastern University (9-13, 2-9 Sunshine State), 3-2, on Saturday. The Moccasins led 6-2 in the fifth set after winning five of six rallies, but the Sharks took the set 15-13.
Florida Southern falls 10-9 overall and 5-6 in Sunshine State play. Nova improves 9-13 overall and 2-9 in Sunshine State play.
Florida Southern answered both an early three-point deficit and a late 20-20 tie, using multiple sideouts and late kills to take the first set. After NSU built a 5-2 lead, the Mocs worked back through kills from
Layla Visser,
Ella Kuosmanen and
Whitney Mall, then turned a 6-5 deficit into a 10-7 lead with help from a Mall/Kuosmanen block and
Elizabeth McDonald's kill from
Tori Borton. The home side stretched the advantage through the middle of the set, getting a
Bali Coles ace, two
Lindsay Piktel kills and another Kuosmanen kill on the way to a 16-12 lead, but the Sharks came back to move ahead 18-17. FSC responded with a Visser kill, a Nova error and a Coles kill to lead 20-18, then after the set was tied at 20-20, Coles put the Moccasins back in front before
Mel Garrett delivered two late kills to finish a 25-22 set win.
Florida Southern forced the second set to 24-24 after facing 17-12 and 24-22 deficits, but Nova scored the final two points to take the set 26-24. Visser's kill and
Nako Sasaki's ace answered NSU's opening point, and the Mocs later used kills from Garrett, Piktel and Kuosmanen to pull even at 11-11. The Sharks won six of the next seven points to move ahead 17-12 before a service error, a Kuosmanen kill from Borton and
Payton Nazzari's ace cut the deficit to 17-15. Florida Southern kept pressing late, getting kills from Mall, Coles, Visser and Piktel, a block involving Visser and Garrett to tie it at 21-21, and Coles' kill from Borton to make it 24-24 before Nova closed the set.
FSC erased much of an early 11-5 deficit and later moved in front 19-16, but the Sharks answered late and took the third set 25-22. After NSU built the six-point lead, Florida Southern worked back with a
Mariana Silva kill, a Coles kill and a Piktel kill to get within 13-12. Trailing 15-12, the Moccasins won seven of the next eight rallies behind a Sasaki ace, three Piktel kills, a Garrett-Kuosmanen block and a Kuosmanen kill. Nova recovered after the Mocs led 20-19, pulling even at 20-20 and 21-21 before scoring the final three points of the set.
Florida Southern created separation in the fourth set by turning an 11-10 lead into a 21-11 advantage, with Piktel's block, a Kuosmanen kill, a Garrett kill and Borton's service run among the key points. Earlier, the Moccasins opened with kills from Garrett, Piktel and Kuosmanen before the Sharks worked back to ties at 6-6, 7-7 and 8-8. Coles helped steady the set with three kills during the push to 11-8, and Sasaki's serve carried a four-point stretch that moved the lead from 12-10 to 16-10. Borton then served two aces around kills from Silva and Piktel as FSC reached 21-11, and the home side closed the set with kills from Silva, Coles, Visser and Coles again for a 25-16 finish.
Florida Southern built an early 6-2 lead in the fifth set, turning a 2-1 deficit into a four-point edge behind kills from Piktel and Kuosmanen during Borton's service turn. The Moccasins continued to answer through the middle of the set, getting a kill from Coles for a 9-4 lead and another from Coles to make it 10-7. Nova responded with six straight points to move in front 13-10 before FSC pulled back within 13-12 on a service error and an attack error. Garrett added a late kill to bring the Mocs within 14-13, but the Sharks took the final point to win the set 15-13.
Piktel led Florida Southern with a season-high 20 kills while adding two total blocks. Coles finished with 15 kills, 20 digs for her seventh career double-double. Sasaki collected a team-high 24 digs and added nine assists with two service aces. Borton recorded 31 assists, 11 digs and two service aces.
Caiden Largent led Nova with 18 kills and 20 points while adding 11 digs and two block assists. Taylor Teaman collected a team-high 23 digs, added five assists and served two aces. Brooke Spurgeon finished with 22 digs, three block assists and four kills. Abbie Roth recorded 38 assists, nine digs and one service ace.
Up next, Florida Southern travels to Winter Park, Fla., to face Rollins on Friday, Oct. 23, at 7 p.m. at Harold & Ted Alfond Sports Center.
