MELBOURNE, FLA. – The Florida Tech Panthers battled to five sets against the Florida Southern Moccasins (Mocs) on Saturday evening at the Clemente Center in which Tech came up short losing the match by a score of 3-2.

FINAL: Florida Tech 2, Florida Southern 3
Records: Florida Tech (5-11, 1-7 SSC), (10-5, 5-4 SSC)
Locations: Clemente Center | Melbourne, Fla.

STATS OF THE MATCH:

First Set:

• Florida Southern started off the set with an early 3-0 lead with two kills by Mackenzie Petermann.
• A kill from Chiara Patelli and an attack error from the Mocs brought tech's deficit to within one down 3-2.
• Southern would take a four-point lead, 9-5, with kills by Elena Djokovic and Emily Crescenzi.
• Cordelia Kearns, Antia Vallecas Rodriguez and Patelli would all record kills, as the Panthers still trailed 10-8.
• Another kill by Petermann and a service ace from Caroline Chambers would improve the Mocs lead in the first to 13-8.
• With Tech down 17-12, a six-point streak would the Crimson and Gray take its first lead in the set, 18-16.
• The Panther's run was highlighted by three kills from Vallecas Rodriguez and one from Maria Jesus Munoz.
• The Mocs would regain the lead 19-18 following a kill from. Madison Fowler.
• Freshman Kearns helped the Panthers take the lead late, 21-20 following her kill against the Mocs.
• Southern would ultimately take the first set after a kill by Petermann and two kills from Kiersten Kraus closed out the set, giving the Mocs a 25-22 win in the first to lead the match 1-0.

 
Second Set:

• Kraus and Petermann started off the set for Southern with two kills as the Mocs would eventually pull ahead to a 5-2 lead.
• The Panther's comeback effort was successful, as they gained the lead at 8-7 after kills from Kenzie Delacher, Devyn Glassgold and two from Vallecas Rodriguez.
• Kearns, Patelli and Vallecas Rodriguez as well as a kill from Ashley Rants and two Southern attack errors allowed the Panthers to gain a 14-9 lead.
• The Mocs would look to make a comeback, trailing by two, but a kill by Rants and another attack error from the Mocs would give Tech a 21-17 lead.
• Muñoz, Glassgold and Rants would eventually close out the set for the Panthers, as Tech would win the second set and tie the match at 1-1.

 
Third Set:  

• Down 2-0 to start the third set, a service ace from Vallecas Rodriguez would help tie the set at 2-2.
• A kill from Muñoz and service ace from Patelli would give the Panthers a 4-2 lead before the Mocs would regain the lead 6-4.
• Four unanswered points by the Panthers would put them ahead 8-6.
• Seven of the next eight points would be rewarded to the Mocs, as Tech trailed 13-9.
• With the Panthers still trailing 13-11, another long stretch of the Mocs scoring ten of 12 points would see Southern pull ahead 23-13.
• Kills from Petermann and Djokovic would close out the set, giving Southern a 25-17 win in the third set to take a 2-1 lead in the match.

 
Fourth Set:

• Three kills from Petermann allowed Southern to gain a 5-2 lead to start the fourth set with Patelli and Rants scoring the two points for the Panthers.
• Tech would manage to regain the lead at 9-8 with Glassgold, Rants, and three kills from Kearns highlighting the Panthers' comeback effort.
• The Mocs would jump ahead 10-9 before back-to-back kills from Patelli would give the Panthers an 11-10 lead, only for Petermann of the Mocs to tie the setup following a kill.
• A six-point run by the Panthers would see their lead grow to 18-13 with kills recorded by Rants, Muñoz, Kearns and Patelli.
• Four points by the Mocs would give Tech a two-point lead, 18-16, before kills from Kearns and Muñoz put the Panthers ahead 20-17.
• Five of the next points would go to the Crimson and Gray giving them the fourth set by a score of 25-20 and tying the match at 2-2, allowing the match to head to a fifth and final set,
• The Panthers scored four straight points with kills coming from Glassgold, Kearns, and Vallecas Rodriguez, before Kearns recorded the final kill of the set.

 
Fifth Set:

• The start to the fifth was back and forth as both teams would be tied through the first eight points at 4-4 all.
• The Mocs would be the first team to pull ahead, taking a three-point lead, 8-5 after Djokovic and Madison Fowler recorded kills for Southern.
• Tech would look to save the set, trailing by one 8-7 after another kill from Kearns.
• Down by three again 10-7, Tech would come back to within one point 10-9.
• The Mocs would wind up scoring the next few points to win the set 15-9 and win the match 3-2.
• The Mocs five points run was highlighted by three kills from Petermann. She finished the match with 20.5 points from 20 kills on seven errors and 44 attempts for a .295 hitting percentage and one block assist.

NOTABLE PANTHERS:

• Kearns finished the night with 14 kills and a block assist for 14.5 points.
• Patelli recorded a .300 hitting percentage and 16 points following 12 kills and two set assists with two block assists.
• Delacher tallied a team-high 27 set assists against the Mocs.
• Kari Voelstad Bogen managed to lead Tech's defense with 24 digs in the match.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:
 

• The Panthers are now 9-72 all-time against Florida Southern and 7-32 against the Moccasins at home.
• Tech's last win against the Mocs came in five sets on October 26, 2018.

 
UP NEXT:
The Panthers will return to action Tuesday, October 10^th at 7:00 pm in Winter Park as they take on Rollins College in SSC action.

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