MIAMI SHORES, Fla. -- It was one of those nights when the Buccaneers numbers stacked up in some cases, but the end result was one they would rather forget. Especially since opportunity knocked.
It was a match the Bucs needed desperately -- one they wanted to seize, but couldn't capitalize in critical situations.
Barry's volleyball team lost to Florida Southern, 25-16, 15-25, 25-20, 25-19, in the Buccaneers' return home after 24 days away from Health & Sports Center. It was a match where the Bucs outproduced the Mocs in kills and assists, but committed more errors and were outblocked.
Barry (11-11, 3-6 Sunshine State Conference) put away 50 kills, while Florida Southern had 44. Tania Torres' 13 kills and .478 attack percentage highlighted a Buccaneer offense that saw six players accumulate six kills or more. Even with a change in the customary setter role, with freshman Jasmine Serna assuming more of the duties running the offense while splitting time with senior Mima Hajdukovic, Barry had 47 assists to Florida Southern's 43.
Serna, who has spent most of the year as a libero and playing defense, had 13 assists, while Hajdukovic took on a more conventional hitter's role in attempting 18 attacks and finishing with six kills.
Numbers aside, there were holes too insurmountable to overcome. Case in point, in the first set Barry found itself behind by nine late and couldn't recover. After dominating the second set -- the Bucs taking advantage of Jayla Trombley's kill on an assist from Ashley Carrero to grab an 18-12 lead the Mocs (16-9, 6-3 SSC) couldn't recover from, Barry found itself behind the eight-ball again after the intermission.
The Buccaneers took a 15-13 lead in the pivotal third set when Carrero put away one of Hajdukovic's 31 assists, but FSC rattled off six straight points to seize control, 19-15. Bucs freshman Laine Cielena put down one of her eight kills to halt the Mocs' momentum for a moment, but Florida Southern didn't relinquish its lead to take a 2-1 advantage in the match.
Florida Southern went ahead, 17-12, in the fourth set, only for Barry to bounce back with kills by Carrero, Trombley and a Mocs' hitting error to cut it to 17-15. But FSC didn't allow the Buccaneers to go on a late run to push the match to a fifth set.
Barry hit .151, and had sideout percentages of 46 and 45 percent in the first and third sets when the Bucs needed more serves or scoring opportunities. Barry was whistled for five ballhandling errors, while FSC had four.
Carerro led Barry with 15 digs, Mariana Lisboa had 13 and Hajdukovic 12. Tashalyn Begon had six kills and a .33 attack rate. Cielena had two of the Buccaneers' five solo blocks. Torres had five blocks, two solos, and Carrero had an all-by-myself block of her own. Trombley had six kills and two block assists, delivering some nifty putaways at pressure-point times.
But in the end, it was the W that the Buccaneers were seeking most, and on this night it didn't come their way.
Barry will play host to Saint Leo at 4 p.m. Saturday. Saint Leo was scheduled to play at Lynn Friday but had the match postponed until Sunday due to weather issues from Hurricane Sandy.