LAKELAND, Fla. -- Barry University's volleyball team battled. They took the No. 22 team in the nation to the wire in the opening set, pulled out a third set of bonus volleyball and didn't quit when its backs were against the wall in the fourth. But the final serve resulted in a Moccasins point, and Barry fell, 30-28, 25-21, 26-28, 25-21, Saturday at Florida Southern.

The Buccaneers, ranked ninth in the South Region, finished the season 14-12 overall, 8-8 in the Sunshine State Conference for fifth place. Florida Southern improved to 23-8, 9-7. 

"We fought with a lot of passion, and I'm very pleased with the effort and fight this team showed in the second half of the season," Bucs coach Steve Hendricks said. 

Barry built a 15-12 lead in the opening set when Jasmine Serna fired off an ace. The Mocs put together a 3-0 run to tie the set at 15-15. The Bucs went toe-to-toe with the Mocs for the rest of the set, taking a 24-22 lead on Laine Cielena's kill. But the Mocs ran off the next three points when the Buccaneers had a chance to wrap up the opening set to take a 25-24 lead. Both teams swapped points over the next seven serves before the Mocs won the final two points. FSC hit .395 on 19 kills in the opening set. Barry hit .361 on 17 kills in an absolute power attack set.

The Bucs jumped out to a 10-7 lead in the second set only to watch the Mocs storm back with three straight points to tie it. Florida Southern crept ahead 15-13, but Ivana Didanovic's kill on Ariel Mangum's serve pushed the Buccaneers back into a tie, 16-16. Katie Dooley's kill kept it tied at 20-20 before the Mocs went on another 3-0 run to pull within two points of a two-set lead. Cielena's kill ended the Mocs surge, but Florida Southern won the final two points to take a 2-0 lead into intermission. Barry hit .327 in the second set, committing just three attack errors. FSC hit .356 with no errors. 

The Bucs overcame a 15-11 deficit in the third set, tying the score at 16-16 on Didanovic's putaway. A Mocs error and Didanovic kill gave Barry a two-point lead. Drake's kill pushed the Buccaneers up 22-19. Florida Southern cut it to 23-22 before Dooley put down a ball that moved the Bucs within set point. The Mocs tied it up, however, winning the next two points. FSC tied it again at 26-26 before Didanovic and Drake each put away setups from Serna to send the match to a fourth set.

Barry led 14-13 in the fourth set before the Mocs went on a 6-0 run to take a 19-14 lead. Didanovic's kill cut the Mocs lead to 22-18. Drake's kill and a Mocs error trimmed the gap to 24-21, but Florida Southern won the final point on a block. Barry hit just .058 in the final set, committing nine attack errors. 

Brittany Jaco had 26 digs to break the school single-season record, finishing with 599 to break Lauren Evans' eight-year record. She also set the school digs per set record, and finished as the SSC leader in that category at 5.93.

Serna had 51 assists, six kills, two aces and 16 digs. She averaged 50 assists a match in the final two weeks of the season, finishing the season with a career-best 664 over a four-year period in which she was never given full-time setting opportunities. Serna capped her career with 1501 assists, which ranks ninth in school history.

Didanovic had 19 kills and hit .390. Drake had 17 kills and nine digs. Cielena had 13 kills and two blocks. Dooley finished with six kills and two blocks. Kat Espinosa had six kills and 19 digs. Mangum had 11 digs. 

Barry had 88 digs. Florida Southern had 87. The Bucs hit .239, while the Mocs hit .298. 

"The chemistry of this team is one of the best I have coached," Hendricks said. "They have been a lot of fun to train, travel with and mentor."