LAKELAND, Fla. — Florida Southern College volleyball defeated Barry University, 3-2, on Friday, by scores of 9-25, 25-19, 15-25, 25-16, 15-13. FSC hit .350 with eight kills and one error in the deciding fifth set. The victory marks FSC's highest ranked win over an opponent since the 2008 season when the Mocs beat No. 4 Ferris State, 3-1.
Florida Southern improves to 9-6 overall and 4-3 in Sunshine State play. Barry falls to 11-3 overall and 6-1 in Sunshine State play. The Mocs held the Buccaneers to a .149 hitting percentage, their lowest output of the season.
Florida Southern spent the opening set trying to work out of an early hole after Barry turned a 1-1 score into a 12-4 advantage behind serving pressure and points at the net.
Whitney Mall, set by
Tori Borton, answered Barry's first point, and
Elizabeth McDonald added two kills from Borton while
Lindsay Piktel put down consecutive Mocs points to make it 9-4. FSC also got a block from
Ella Kuosmanen and
Mel Garrett during a two-point response that moved the set to 13-7, but Barry answered with six straight points to stretch the margin to 19-7. McDonald's second kill gave Florida Southern its final point at 20-9 before Barry scored the last five points to take the set 25-9.
The Mocs separated late in the second set, turning a 17-16 edge into a 24-17 set point by winning seven of eight rallies, including five straight service points with
Brielle Mullen at the line.
Bali Coles tied the set at 3-3 with a kill before
Payton Nazzari served back-to-back aces to give Florida Southern a 6-3 lead. Barry answered to move ahead 7-6, but a Mall and Kuosmanen block and a
Nako Sasaki ace helped FSC respond, and kills by Garrett, Piktel, Mall and McDonald pushed the home side to a 17-14 lead. Barry scored twice after Florida Southern reached set point, but Piktel finished the 25-19 set win with a kill from Mullen.
Florida Southern worked back from an 11-6 deficit to get within 13-11 in the third set, but Barry answered with five straight points and pulled away for a 25-15 set win. Earlier, Kuosmanen opened the set with a kill, and Garrett, Mall and McDonald helped the Mocs trade points after Barry moved in front. The response came through a Barry service error, an attack error, a McDonald kill from Mullen and a Garrett kill before another Barry error made it 13-11. Barry's ensuing stretch included two service aces by Ivana Zujovic, and FSC later got kills from
Nicole Russell and McDonald before Barry closed the set with the final four points.
The Mocs erased an 8-5 deficit and moved in front 10-9, getting back-to-back Mall kills, a block from McDonald and Kuosmanen, and later kills from Kuosmanen, McDonald and Garrett. Earlier, Barry had built a 7-3 lead before Piktel and Mall helped Florida Southern stay within range. After Barry tied the set at 10-10 and 11-11, FSC kept answering, with Piktel, McDonald and a Mall-Russell block helping push the margin to 16-13. McDonald added more late offense, Sasaki served an ace for a 19-14 lead, and Florida Southern closed the set on Barry attack errors, including a Garrett-Kuosmanen block on the final point of a 25-16 win.
FSC closed the deciding fifth set by scoring the final three points, tying the set on a Barry service error before Piktel put the home side at set point and McDonald and Kuosmanen combined on the final block for a 15-13 finish. Coles opened the set with an ace as the Mocs built a 3-0 lead, and kills from Piktel and Garrett helped stretch the advantage to 6-2. Barry answered to move ahead 7-6, but Piktel tied it, Mall later answered for an 8-8 tie, and McDonald followed with a kill for a 9-8 Florida Southern lead. After Barry went back in front 11-9, Kuosmanen delivered a kill and joined Garrett and McDonald on consecutive blocks to move FSC ahead 12-11. Barry reached 13-12, but the Mocs responded with the last three points to take the set, 15-13.
McDonald led Florida Southern with 14 kills, adding five digs and three blocks. Garrett finished with 13 kills and four blocks. Sasaki collected 29 digs and added two service aces and four assists. Kuosmanen recorded eight total blocks and added four kills while hitting .333.
Valeriya Kozlova led Barry with 15 kills and 20 points, adding three aces, 10 digs and four blocks. Veronika Eremeeva added 14 kills, six digs and 16 points. Thalia Iglesias recorded 31 assists, seven digs and two aces.
Up next, the Mocs host Florida Tech on Saturday, Oct. 10, at 4 p.m. at George W. Jenkins Field House in Lakeland, Fla.
