LAKELAND, Fla. – The Saint Leo volleyball team traveled to Lakeland, Fla., Tuesday evening to take on the Moccasins of Florida Southern hoping to avenge a 3-1 loss earlier this season at home. The Lions opened up with a 25-21 first set victory but the Mocs were able to rebound on their home floor taking the final three sets to win 3-1.
 
The loss drops the Lions' record to 9-14 overall and 3-9 in Sunshine State Conference play while the Mocs improved to 11-8 and 7-5 in league action.
 
Redshirt junior Elizabeth Sandoval led the Lion effort with 13 kills while adding a service ace, four digs and a block. Senior Brooke Turner chipped in seven kills on 19 swings while posting a .368 hitting percentage. She also added three digs and a block.
 
Senior setter Anna Garrett handed out 22 assists while digging up three balls. Senior libero Payton Bellano was the lone Lion to reach double-figures in digs as she had 19 in the match. The 19 digs moved Bellano into fifth in the career record books at Saint Leo with 1,270 surpassing Chelsea Armer who had 1,266 digs from 2006-09. Bellano now sits 64 digs behind fourth place which is held by Christiana Florea (1999-02).
 
Saint Leo hit .357 as a team in the opening 25-21 first set victory before seeing that percentage drop to .152 in the second set, .062 in the third set and .000 in the fourth set as the Mocs did the opposite starting the match by hitting for a .000 percentage in the opening set followed by .273 in the second, .417 in the third and .375 in the fourth.
 
Florida Southern had three hitters reach double-figures in kills including Ali Travis and Mackenzie Petermann who each achieved a match-high 15.
 
After taking the opening set 25-21, the Lions fell in the next three sets 25-18, 25-16 and 25-11.
 
The Lions will not have much time to dwell on the setback as next on the schedule is a Thursday night match-up in Fort Lauderdale versus the 17^th-ranked Nova Southeastern Sharks who have just two losses on the season.
 
For the latest news, updates, and information on the Saint Leo volleyball program, be sure to visit SaintLeoLions.com.  Fans can also stay up-to-date on the latest Lions news by following Saint Leo Athletics on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.