PENSACOLA, Fla. — Florida Southern defeated Spring Hill, 3-1, on Saturday at UWF Field House, taking the match 23-25, 25-16, 25-17, 25-22. Florida Southern finished with a 58-41 advantage in kills and added a season-high 13 service aces.
Florida Southern ends non-conference play with a 5-3 record while Spring Hill falls to 1-7 overall.
The Mocs built a 5-2 lead in the opening set with kills from
Ella Kuosmanen,
Lindsay Piktel,
Mel Garrett and
Brielle Mullen, but SHC pulled even at 7-7 on a service ace. Florida Southern moved back in front 12-8 and later led 14-11, before the Badgers tied the set at 15-15 and went ahead 16-15 on a kill. After SHC led 17-16,
Bali Coles had two kills in a three-point span and
Catherine Sweeney added a kill as Florida Southern moved ahead 21-18. SHC scored the next six points to reach 24-21, and after the Mocs closed within 24-23, the Badgers finished the set with a kill for a 25-23 win.
Florida Southern built an early cushion in the second set, getting two Garrett kills, a Kuosmanen kill and a Coles ace while moving ahead 7-3. The Badgers stayed within 8-6, but
Whitney Mall and Garrett put down kills and Kuosmanen and Garrett combined on a block during a six-of-seven stretch that pushed the lead to 14-7. After SHC cut it to 16-11,
Tori Borton, Mall and Piktel delivered consecutive kills to make it 19-11, and Sweeney and Piktel added kills as FSC reached set point at 24-14. SHC held off two set points with back-to-back kills, but a service error closed the set for the Moccasins, 25-16.
A 6-5 deficit turned into control for Florida Southern in the third set, with the Mocs tying it on a Badgers attack error before two more errors gave the Moccasins an 8-6 lead. FSC gained momentum with a Piktel kill, then Garrett added consecutive kills and Piktel followed with another as Mullen served FSC to a 13-7 advantage. The Badgers cut the gap to 15-11, but Florida Southern kept adding sideouts, including kills by Garrett, Coles, Mall, Piktel and Sweeney before
Nako Sasaki's ace made it 21-15. SHC fought back to 21-17, but a service error returned the serve to the Mocs, and Mullen served two aces around a Piktel kill to close the set 25-17.
Piktel served two aces to start the fourth set, and Florida Southern later used kills from Mall and Piktel to move ahead 8-5. SHC answered with four straight points to go in front 9-8, and after the teams traded points to 11-11, Piktel added back-to-back aces before Garrett's kill gave the Mocs a 14-11 lead. The Badgers pulled even at 14-14 and later went ahead 22-21 on a service ace. Piktel tied the set with a kill, Mullen served an ace, Garrett and Kuosmanen combined on a block for set point, and Piktel finished the Mocs' 25-22 set win with a kill from Mullen.
Lindsay Piktel scored a team-high 21 points behind a career-best 17 kills and four service aces.
Mel Garrett finished with 14 kills on a personal best .464 hitting percentage and added two block assists.
Nako Sasaki posted a team-high 19 digs and added 14 assists.
Brielle Mullen recorded 19 assists, 14 digs and three service aces.
Claire Hayes led the Badgers with 14 kills while hitting .464 and added one block assist. Samaya Hennessy finished with 11 kills, six digs and three block assists. Ashlyn Whiteside collected 19 digs, served one ace and added three assists. Quinn Thurman recorded 16 digs, six kills and one block assist.
Up next, the Florida Southern volleyball team opens conference play at Saint Leo on Friday, Sept. 18. First serve is set for 6:00 p.m. at Marion Bowman Activities Center in Saint Leo, Fla.
