WINTER PARK, Fla. – The Rollins Tars
dropped a four-set match to seventh-ranked Florida Southern, 3-1
(25-18, 25-23, 17-25, 25-19), Saturday evening in a Sunshine State
Conference contest at Warden Arena.
Rollins (10-5, 1-2 SSC) had a hitting percentage of .223 and
recorded only nine attacking errors in the match. Junior middle
blocker Natalie Branche's percentage of .471 accompanied her nine
kills with five blocks.
The Moccasins (11-4, 2-0) out-hit the Tars with a .254
percentage as they had four different athletes tally double-digits
in kills. Leading the way for the Mocs was Danielle Durham and
Danielle Higginbotham with 19 each.
Defensively, freshman Phoebe Corder was the team-high in digs
with 19, while junior Nikki Hartman chipped in with 17 and
Stephanie Nichols added 11.
Hartman was the Tars' kill leader with 14 and registered her
eighth double-double of the season. Nichols and Branche followed
with nine kills apiece, while junior Caitlin Vyborny blasted six.
Providing the assists for Rollins was Lacey Malarky's 34.
In the first frame, the Mocs used a .372 hitting percentage to
claim the 25-18 victory. The teams played even volleyball and were
tied at nine, before Florida Southern made its run. After
capturing the next four points, the Tars responded with a 4-0 run
of their own. The Mocs answered scoring the next six points to
increase its lead to 19-13. Despite a valiant attempt by the Tars,
they would only cut into the deficit to five the rest of the
way.
The second stanza proved much closer. After taking a
three-point lead at 22-19, the Mocs stormed back scoring the next
three points from a pair of kills and a Maggie Drumm ace. Despite
Drumm's service error on the next play, the Tars would surrender
the final two points in the set.
The Tars rebounded in the third set out-hitting the Mocs .262 to
.140. Hartman contributed with 10 digs in the solo frame. Rollins
never trailed and eventually won by its largest margin in the
frame, 25-17.
In the final round, the Mocs hit .372 and capitalized on four
Tars attacking errors to claim the victory. After taking an early
4-1 lead, the Tars rallied to tie the Moc's at nine after a service
error. It would be Florida Southern from that point on as they
built its lead back up to six at 25-19 secure the match
victory.
Rollins returns to the road for a tournament hosted by Valdosta
State, Friday, Sept. 26-27. For more information please visit www.RollinsSports.com
