LAKELAND, Fla. – Barry University’s volleyball team fell to No. 29 Florida Southern, 25-12, 28-26, 25-17, Friday in the first of two weekend road matches.
The Buccaneers (9-5, 2-3 Sunshine State Conference) will meet Saint Leo at 4 p.m. Saturday.
Barry bounced back from a disappointing first set to take a 21-17 lead in the second set after a kill by Victoria Fajardo and block by Katie Dooley. But Florida Southern (8-4, 4-1) regrouped following a timeout, pulling within one on a kill by Anna Tovo.
The Bucs won the next three points on two Moccasins errors and a kill by Jayla Trombley to move within a point of tying the match at a set apiece. Florida Southern went on a 5-0 run to take command, 25-24, before a Mocs attack error squared the second set at 25-25.
Back-to-back service errors by the two sides kept the score tied at 26-26 before another Bucs serving error and Ali Skayhan’s ace gave the Mocs a 2-0 lead in the match entering intermission.
In the third set, Barry drew within 6-5 after a Tasha Begon kill and Mocs attack error. But the Mocs used a 6-0 run to take a 12-5 lead before Begon and Ivana Didanovic’s block squashed FSC’s momentum. Trombley’s two straight kills on a pass from Brittany Jaco and Jasmine Serna assist, respectively, brought the Buccaneers to within 15-10.
But the Moccasins used a kill by Skayhan and two Bucs attack errors to extend the lead back to nine, 20-11. Barry got within 21-15 on a kill by Fajardo, but Florida Southern sealed the match by winning four of the last six points.
The second set witnessed 10 ties and three lead changes. The rest of the match generated a total of six ties and five other lead changes.
Begon finished with eight kills and two blocks. Trombley had six kills and an ace, and Eva Raat five kills. Serna had 12 assists, 10 digs and an ace. FSC’s Kendall Marotti had nine kills, and Skayhan eight kills and 27 assists while hitting .727.
The Bucs had a .102 attack percentage, while the Mocs hit .245. FSC had nine aces to Barry’s two.