SAINT LEO, Fla. — Florida Southern College volleyball defeated Saint Leo University 3-0 on Friday at Marion Bowman Activities Center by scores of 25-9, 25-11, 25-20. Florida Southern hit .333 with 43 kills while holding Saint Leo to a .022 hitting percentage and 21 kills.
Florida Southern improves to 6-3 overall and 1-0 in Sunshine State play. Saint Leo falls to 4-7 overall and 0-1 in Sunshine State play. FSC starts off SSC play 1-0 for the fourth straight year.
Florida Southern seized control of the opening set by turning a 4-2 deficit into a 9-4 lead, with
Elizabeth McDonald recording the sideout before
Bali Coles served through six straight points. That stretch included a
Catherine Sweeney-
Lindsay Piktel block, a Piktel kill, a
Whitney Mall kill and three additional Saint Leo attack errors. Saint Leo got within 9-6, but the Moccasins answered with another six-point surge to 15-6 behind a
Nako Sasaki ace, two Piktel kills, a Piktel-
Ella Kuosmanen block and a Mall kill. After Saint Leo moved the score to 18-8, Florida Southern won seven of the final eight rallies, with
Payton Nazzari serving five straight points during a closing push that included kills from
Layla Visser,
Mel Garrett, McDonald and
Brielle Mullen. The Moccasins finished the set with Mullen's kill for a 25-9 win.
Florida Southern controlled the second set from the early stages and finished it with a 25-11 win over Saint Leo. Earlier, Garrett opened the set with a kill from Mullen, and the Mocs built a 7-2 lead behind kills from Sweeney, Garrett and McDonald, a
Tori Borton service ace, and a block by Sweeney and Mall. After Saint Leo cut the margin to 10-6, Florida Southern answered with another Garrett kill, a Mullen ace and a Piktel kill to push the set to 14-6. The lead reached 18-7 with help from a block by Kuosmanen and Coles and continued to grow as Piktel finished with four kills in the set. Florida Southern closed the set by taking the final four points, ending it on Piktel's kill from Borton.
The Moccasins won the third set 25-20, using an early cushion and a mid-set push at Sasaki's serve to keep Saint Leo from completing a comeback. Earlier, Garrett opened the set with a kill from Mullen, Kuosmanen followed with an ace and Florida Southern built an 8-2 lead behind kills from Sweeney, Mall and Piktel, plus a block by Sweeney and Mall. Saint Leo worked back within 15-14, but Mall answered with a kill before Piktel added another, Kuosmanen and Mall combined on a block and Sasaki served consecutive aces to move Florida Southern ahead 20-14. Saint Leo trimmed the margin late, including points at 22-18 and 24-20, but Garrett and Coles supplied late kills before Sweeney finished the set with a kill from Mullen.
Piktel led Florida Southern with 10 kills while hitting .471 and added two block assists. Sasaki collected 23 digs, served three aces and added eight assists. Mullen finished with 19 assists, 11 digs, one ace and a kill on her lone attack.
Mel Garrett added nine kills on a .421 hitting percentage and two block assists.
Shelby Toney led Saint Leo with seven kills and added six digs. Alexa Gandolfo finished with six kills on 13 attacks without an error, hitting .462. Bridget Gallagher recorded a team-high 10 assists with five digs and a service ace.
Up next, Florida Southern volleyball team hosts No. 3 Tampa on Saturday, Sept. 19, at 4 p.m. at George W. Jenkins Field House in Lakeland, Florida.
