Mikaela Queen
Florida Southern volleyball hosted the Terrace Hotel Clajussic on Sept. 6-7 where they brought No.5 Concorida-St. Paul, Hillsdale, Indiana (Pa.) and No.17 Central Missouri to Jenkins Field.
The Mocs faced a tough start to their season on Sept. 6 with a match against No. 5 Concordia-St. Paul and fell 1-3. They then played Hillsdale just hours later where they also saw a 1-3 defeat.
After day one of the classic, Buse Ene and Lena Bondar carried the mocs with kills, each recording 10. Tiera Porter recorded six kills in addition to four blocks. Beatrice lead the team defensively with 20 digs and Annie Collins issued 36 assists.
The team came in on the second day of the classic and defeated Indiana (Pa.) a 3-2, but fell to No. 17 Central Missouri 0-3. The Mocs finished the Terrace Hotel classic with a 1-3 record. Porter continued to be noticed at the net as she recorded 16 blocks for the day. Ene ended the classic recording 44 kills leading for the Mocs.
Junior Erica Ronda said that the team is upset with their loses, but are also motivated by them because of the tough level of competition they faced.
The team traveled to Aiken, SC for the USC Aiken Invite on Sept. 13-14. The Mocs fell to USC Aiken 0-3 in their first game of the invitational. Ronda leds the Mocs for kills with 11. She is ranked third in the conference in aces per set and leads the team in aces as she recorded 8 for the night. Mika Garza made 28 assists and Formilan again led defensively with 20 digs.
“I think in order to continue to be successful this season, I really need to perform in practice,” Ronda said. She sees that that is where it all starts and losing focus during that time will waste necessary reps.
Florida Southern saw a 3-1 victory against Lee University in the first match of the second day of the invitational, but fell 0-3 to Lander University in the last match of the invitational. Ronda led the team again, but this time with none kills. Freshman Raeley Matthews set a team-high ace count recording three aces.
“After this past weekend the team talked about how we have all the talent, now it’s time to really lock in our mindset and mental game,” Ronda said.
The Mocs will be back in action tonight at 7 p.m. for a home match in Jenkins Field House against Saint Leo. They will play Eckerd on Saturday at 3 p.m. in Jenkins Field House.
