LAKELAND, Fla. – Fifth-seeded Saint Leo volleyball fell to top-seed, and host, Florida Southern 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-20) in the NCAA Division II South Region Semifinals inside the George W. Jenkins Field House. The Lions finished the season with a 23-7 mark overall.
 
On the night, Saint Leo was paced by freshman Ashley Quero with 10 kills on a .273 hitting percentage. Victoria Omoregie landed seven kills on a team high .286 clip, while adding two blocks. As a team, the Lions finished the night with a .143 percentage with a .225 first set.

"First off, congratulations to Florida Southern on the win. We worked hard and did everything we could," Director of Volleyball Sam Cibrone stated after the loss to Florida Southern. "Tonight they were just the better team, but we gained experience. We started four sophomores, a freshman and Britt [Sederholm] and Jenya [Kruglova]. Going forward, if we can learn from tonight's match and realize that it takes multiple nights to be great in the NCAA tournament, we will focus on that; getting to the next match and the match after that."
 
Anna Garrett dished out 28 assists and scooped up eight digs, to finish behind senior Jenya Kruglova and Reggie Van Devender. Kruglova picked up 21 digs to bring her career count to 806 as she wrapped up her collegiate career. Van Devender added 14 digs for the Green and Gold.
 
Britt Sederholm closed out her four-year Lion career with three kills and two digs to bring her career numbers to 885 (kills) and 1,023 (digs).
 
Florida Southern (27-6) will take on third-seed West Florida on Dec. 2 at 7 p.m. The Moccasins were led by Anna Tovo with 17 kills and 11 digs where Nicole Mattson added 10 kills. Bethany Besancenez completed her double-double with 41 assists and 13 digs. Gabby Fresh chipped in with 10 digs.

FLORIDA SOUTHERN 25-21 | Florida Southern jumped out to an early 2-0 lead before Dallas Jasper registered the first kill for the Lions. A Victoria Omoregie and Florida Southern attack error would even things at 3-3 where the two teams would then play an even set to a 9-9 score. Saint Leo claimed a 10-9 lead off a Nina Vattovaz ace before the Moccasins erased the point deficit and climbed to a 14-10 lead, forcing a Saint Leo timeout. FSC would build out to an 18-11 lead before the Lions earned a point out of their final timeout, 18-12 Florida Southern, on a Mocs service error. Florida Southern would claim a seven point lead, 21-14, before Annabella Arcari put one down to make it 21-15, followed by back-to-back Florida Southern errors, 21-17 FSC. Saint Leo would use a late 3-0 run, with kills from Ashley Quero and Omoregie, to cut the deficit to 23-21, forcing the Mocs to use their final timeout. Florida Southern used a Sydney Marshall kill and a double-block to take the opening set by four, 25-21.
 
FLORIDA SOUTHERN 25-22 | Dallas Jasper would get the Lions' offense going out of the gate with a kill to start things off in the second set. Florida Southern would use an 11-5 run to take an 11-6 lead before the Lions closed the gap to 12-11 with a block by Ashley Quero and Jasper. Florida Southern would run back out to a 17-14 lead, forcing the Lions to call time. Annabella Arcari would spark the Lions with a solo block before Britt Sederholm brought it to a one point set, 17-16, with a kill. Florida Southern would use a block and an attack error to move to a 19-17 lead before Arcari found the back of the court to make it 19-18. An attack error by the Mocs would force Florida Southern to call time, even at 19-19. Three errors and a kill for the Mocs would allow Florida Southern to move out to a 23-20 lead before Quero landed one to make it 23-21, followed by a Jasper and Victoria Omoregie block, 23-23. Florida Southern would register two kills to take a 2-0 match lead after a 25-22 set.
 
FLORIDA SOUTHERN 25-20 | Both teams played even over the opening 12 points before the Mocs used a 4-0 spurt, forcing a Lions' timeout, 10-6 FSC. Out of the timeout, Saint Leo roared back to tie things at 10-10, on two Florida Southern errors and kills from Britt Sederholm and Anna Garrett. The Mocs and Lions would go even, 2-2 to a 12-12 tie before the Mocs slithered out to a 20-16 lead as Saint Leo called time. Saint Leo would battle back to a 22-19 set off an Ashley Quero kill before FSC closed the set with two kills.
 
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