LAKELAND, Fla. — Florida Southern (13-9, 8-6 Sunshine State) defeated Eckerd (15-10, 7-7 Sunshine State) 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-23) on Tuesday. Florida Southern totaled 52 kills and hit .266 while holding the Tritons to 30 kills and a .143 percentage.
The Moccasins erased a 12-9 deficit in the first set, tying it on
Tori Borton's service ace and moving ahead 14-13 on a bad set by the Tritons before finishing off a 25-20 win. Earlier,
Lindsay Piktel helped FSC answer several Tritons points with kills, including three in the opening eight points as the home team moved in front 4-2. After the mid-set turnaround, Florida Southern kept finding sideout production through
Bali Coles, Piktel and
Whitney Mall, while
Brielle Mullen added a service ace during a stretch that pushed the lead to 19-16. Borton delivered another late ace to make it 24-19, and Mall ended the set with a kill from Borton after EC held off one set point.
Florida Southern took command of the second set after an even start and finished it off 25-18. Piktel led the early response with kills that tied the set at 1-1, 2-2 and 4-4, and Coles followed with consecutive kills to give the Mocs a 7-5 lead. FSC stretched the advantage to 12-8 with kills by Mall, Coles and Piktel, then answered the Tritons' move to 15-13 with a service error, a Coles-
Ella Kuosmanen block and another Coles kill to reach 18-13.
Layla Visser's kill made it 21-14, and
Mel Garrett delivered the Moccasins' final two points on kills from Mullen to close the set.
FSC's late third-set push came after the Tritons led 16-15, as Piktel tied it, Kuosmanen and Borton added kills, and blocks involving Kuosmanen and Mall helped move the Mocs ahead 20-17. Earlier, Florida Southern trailed 6-4 before winning seven of the next eight rallies, getting kills from Kuosmanen, Coles, Mall and Visser plus a Visser block to build an 11-7 lead. EC answered with five straight points to go up 12-11 and continued to trade points with the Moccasins until the later 16-15 edge. Coles put down another kill for a 21-17 lead, and after the Tritons closed within 23-22, Coles brought FSC to set point at 24-22; after EC answered, Piktel's kill from Mullen finished the set, 25-23.
Piktel led Florida Southern with 18 kills while hitting .400. Coles finished with 17 kills and 13 digs on a .536 hitting percentage.
Nako Sasaki recorded a team-high 19 digs and added 10 assists. Kuosmanen tallied a team-best six total blocks and added three kills.
Seiler Hruska led the Tritons with 10 kills and 12 digs, adding two blocks. Lilli Weber recorded 23 assists, seven digs and one service ace. Jaelynn Tunley added six kills and eight digs for Eckerd.
Up next, Florida Southern hosts Palm Beach Atlantic on Saturday, Oct. 31, at 4 p.m. at George W. Jenkins Field House in Lakeland, Fla.
