WINTER PARK, Fla. -
The Rollins volleyball team fell to 15th-ranked Florida
Southern, 3-1 (25-16, 22-25, 25-21, 25-22) in a Sunshine State
Conference showdown at Warden Arena, Saturday.
The Tars were held to an attacking percentage under .200 for the
fifth time this season to fall to 11-4 and 0-2 in the SSC. The
Moccasins accumulated 72 digs in the match to improve to 9-4 and
2-0 in the conference.
Rollins collected 10 blocks in the match as freshman Jillian Lau
led the team with five. Senior Natalie Branche and junior
Caitlin Vyborny added four
assisted blocks to an energized Tars' squad.
Resuming the libero duties in the second set, sophomore Phoebe
Corder owned the match-high with 15 digs as Karin
Barborikova finished with nine in the match.
The Tars had a trio of attackers secure double-digit in kills with
senior Nikki Hartman leading the
way with 14. Freshman outside hitter Mikayla Pierce
trailed with 13, while Branche chipped in with 10.
Rollins committed 11 service errors to match Florida Southern, but
the Mocs countered with five aces to Rollins' zero. Florida
Southern leaned on Julia Borecka's match-best 21 kills and a .447
attacking percentage (21K, 4E, 38TA). Fellow attacker Anne
Pietkiewicz followed with 17 kills and a .394 hitting percentage
(17K, 4E, 33TA).
After dropping the first 25-16, the Tars answered in the second
capturing the 25-22 win. Led by Pierce's five kills in the frame,
Rollins hit .275 and held the Mocs to a .229 percentage. Trailing
by five at 13-8, Rollins began its run with three unanswered points
with kills from Vyborny and Branche to trim the deficit to two.
After a Borecka kill for the Mocs, the Tars went on an 8-0 run,
culminated by a pair of kills from Hartman. The Tars never
relinquished the lead in the final points to hang onto the win.
The Mocs countered in the final two frames hitting .297 and a
match-high .324 in the fourth. In the fourth set, Rollins received
offensive support from Pierce and Hartman, who added four kills
apiece in the stanza. Florida Southern just out powered the Tars
down the stretch with Borecka and Pietkiewicz teaming up for five
kills each and Natalie Arvizu's four to secure the match-win.
With the victory, Florida Southern increases its all-time lead in
the series to 65-5.
Rollins returns to its conference schedule when they host Tampa,
Wednesday, Sept. 23 at 7 p.m.
