LAKELAND, Fla. — Florida Southern volleyball defeated Oklahoma Baptist, 3-2, on Thursday night, by scores of 25-22, 26-24, 21-25, 21-25, 15-5. Florida Southern opened the fifth set with a 9-0 run and hit .533 in the frame.
The Moccasins improved to 3-1 overall while handing the Bison their first loss of the season, to drop to 5-1 overall.
Florida Southern's first set turned late when they came from 19-16 down to move ahead 23-20 during a stretch in which it won seven of eight rallies. Earlier, the Mocs shook off OBU's 3-0 start, with
Bali Coles supplying the first point before
Catherine Sweeney kills and opponent attack errors helped the home side pull even at 5-5 and 6-6. After trailing 10-7, FSC used
Elizabeth McDonald's kill,
Tori Borton's block,
Brielle Mullen's ace and back-to-back block points involving McDonald,
Ella Kuosmanen and
Mel Garrett to take a 13-11 lead. The late rally included a Sweeney kill, a McDonald kill and a
Nako Sasaki ace to tie the match at 19-19; after the Bison went back ahead 20-19, Kuosmanen tied the set once again with a kill, Garrett and Kuosmanen combined on the block point that put Florida Southern ahead 21-20, and McDonald added two late kills before Garrett closed the 25-22 set win.
Early in the second set, Florida Southern built separation from an 8-7 edge with kills by Kuosmanen, Coles and Sweeney around an OBU attack error to move ahead 12-7. Garrett,
Whitney Mall, McDonald and Coles added points through the middle of the set as FSC continued to answer Bison pushes. OBU cut into the margin late and drew even at 24-24, but the Moccasins scored the final two points to close the set behind a kill and an ace from McDonald.
The Mocs opened the third set with kills from Coles and Garrett, built a 7-4 edge with blocks from Sweeney and the Mall-Sweeney tandem, and later led 12-8 after another Kuosmanen kill and a Garrett finish. FSC still led 14-11 after McDonald's kill, but the Bison tied the set at 14-14 and then scored five straight points after a service error had put Florida Southern back in front 15-14.
Lindsay Piktel's kill stopped that stretch, and the late push brought the Mocs back within two before OBU scored the final two points for a 25-21 set win.
The Moccasins responded to a set-opening Bison ace in the fourth with kills from Mall, McDonald and Kuosmanen, each assisted by Borton, and Mullen followed with a service ace during a 5-2 start. OBU tied the set at 7-7 and later went ahead 10-8, but Mall's kill and a Bison attack error pulled Florida Southern back even at 10-10. The teams traded points through the middle of the set, with McDonald scoring to make it 11-11, Kuosmanen and McDonald combining on a block for 13-13, and Garrett putting FSC ahead 17-16 before a late OBU push. Florida Southern moved in front 20-19 on Sasaki's service ace late in the fourth set, but OBU answered with five of the final six points to hand the home team a 25-21 set loss.
Florida Southern dominated the fifth set with a 9-0 opening run. Mall started the set with a kill from Borton, and the Mocs added three block-influenced points before Sasaki's ace made it 6-0. Mall and Kuosmanen added kills, both assisted by Borton, to complete the early surge before the Bison got on the board. FSC answered with kills from McDonald, Coles, Garrett, Piktel and Sweeney down the stretch, with Mullen assisting three of the final four Florida Southern kills. Sweeney's kill closed the set at 15-5 to secure the Mocs' win.
Sasaki collected a team-high 26 digs and added four service aces. McDonald led the Moccasins with 14 kills and 16.5 points, adding three blocks and an ace. Kuosmanen posted 10 kills while hitting .381 and finished with a team-high nine total blocks. Mullen recorded 26 assists, 16 digs and two service aces. Coles tallied a career-high 23 digs.
Rylee Unruh led the Bison with 16 kills, four service aces and 21 points while adding 15 digs. Emily Boyer finished with 37 assists, 12 digs, five kills and two aces. Elle Parisi collected a team-high 16 digs and added an ace.
Up next, Florida Southern faces Francis Marion in a neutral-site match on Saturday, Sept. 5, at 11 a.m. at the Bob Martinez Athletics Center in Tampa, Fla.
