LAKELAND, Fla. — Florida Southern College volleyball lost to Embry-Riddle, 3-2, on Friday night, with set scores of 25-23, 11-25, 25-18, 22-25, 8-15. Florida Southern finished with 62 kills and 88 digs, but ERAU held advantages in hitting percentage (.268-.201), aces (9-3) and blocks (11-5).
The Mocs fall to 6-5 overall and 1-2 in Sunshine State play. The Eagles improve to 9-3 overall and 2-1 in the SSC.
Florida Southern answered an early 2-0 deficit with six straight points, including kills from
Whitney Mall,
Ella Kuosmanen,
Brielle Mullen and
Bali Coles, to move ahead 6-2. ERAU came back with the next six points, using a service ace and three kills during the stretch to take an 8-6 lead. Trailing 12-10 later in the set, the Mocs moved back in front as
Catherine Sweeney and
Elizabeth McDonald finished kills around a service error, and after the Eagles tied it at 13-13, Mall and
Tori Borton answered with kills for a 15-13 edge. ERAU tied the set again at 15-15, but Florida Southern stayed in front down the stretch, reached set point at 24-21 on an attack error and closed the set 25-23 on another Eagles attack error.
After ERAU scored the first two points, the Mocs stayed close through the early sideout stretch, getting kills from Sweeney, McDonald and Kuosmanen to pull within 7-6. The Eagles created separation from there, using a Florida Southern service error, a Kailey Hrbek-Dakota Zieman block and kills by Lindsay Smith and Zieman to push the score to 11-6 before Mall's kill and an ERAU attack error made it 11-8. The Eagles then scored nine straight points to move ahead 20-8, with Zieman serving the last eight points of the stretch and recording consecutive aces.
Layla Visser, Coles and
Lindsay Piktel added late kills for Florida Southern, but ERAU reached set point at 24-9 and closed the set 25-11 on a Zieman kill.
Florida Southern built a 4-1 lead in the third set behind two ERAU errors, a Piktel kill and a Kuosmanen ace, but the Eagles tied it at 4-4 on an ace. The home side moved back in front and reached 10-6 after two Mall and Visser blocks and a McDonald kill, then pushed the margin to 17-13 on consecutive Visser kills and an Eagles attack error. ERAU scored the next three points to get within 17-16 before McDonald's kill made it 18-16, and
Nako Sasaki served the Mocs through four straight points to 22-16 with an ace, a Mall kill and a Kuosmanen kill included in the run. The Eagles got two points back, but Florida Southern closed the set with three straight points, finishing the 25-18 win on a McDonald kill from Mullen.
The fourth set was tied at 5-5 after McDonald's kill, but ERAU built a 15-9 lead behind two aces and multiple blocks. Florida Southern worked back within 17-15 with kills from Piktel, Visser and McDonald, plus Eagles errors, and later got to 18-17 on another McDonald kill followed by an Embry-Riddle error. ERAU moved back ahead 22-18 with points that included consecutive Florida Southern attack errors, and although a Piktel kill, an Eagles attack error and a Visser-Mall block helped the Mocs get as close as 24-22, the Eagles finished the set with a kill for a 25-22 set win.
Florida Southern answered an early 2-1 deficit with kills from
Mel Garrett, Mall and McDonald, with McDonald's swing off Visser tying the fifth set at 4-4. ERAU moved back in front behind consecutive kills, and after McDonald cut it to 6-5, the visitors scored the next six points with multiple blocks and a kill to make it 12-5. McDonald, a block by Kuosmanen and Garrett, and a Kuosmanen kill accounted for the Mocs' late points, but the Eagles finished the set 15-8.
McDonald led Florida Southern with 15 kills. Sasaki recorded a team-high 30 digs, just one shy of her career-best. Mullen finished with a team-best 25 assists and 10 digs. Borton added 21 assists, 15 digs and one kill.
Dakota Zieman recorded 17 kills, 15 digs and three service aces while finishing with a team-high 20.5 points. Taylor Fonseca collected a team-high 28 digs and served four aces. Ashlyn Koerner finished with 50 assists, nine digs, four blocks and one ace.
Up next, the Mocs volleyball team hosts Rollins on Saturday, Sept. 26, at 4 p.m. at George W. Jenkins Field House in Lakeland, Fla.
