MIAMI SHORES, FL. –The last time the Barry Buccaneers (12-0, 4-0 SSC) took down the Florida Southern University Mocs (6-6, 1-3 SSC) was on October 23, 2015. The Bucs defeated the 2017 national runner-up 3-0 in Miami Shores on Saturday afternoon inside the Health & Sports Center. The Mocs national runner-up finish is the highest in program history, as the Mocs were making their first-ever appearance in a National Championship contest.

Despite winning in straight sets, the Buccaneers had to dig deep to put away Florida Southern in the final set. "In this entire conference, you cannot let up on any team," Buccaneer head coach Steve Hendricks said. "Florida Southern finished second in the country last year and they have a lot of players returning. Number nine [Nicole Mattson] is phenomenal and their setter [Bethany Nesancenez] is very good. We didn't play great today. I told the team, we have to grind it out today. Luckily we did that and got out of here in three [sets]." 

Mattson was a 2017 AVCA All-American and really put pressure on the Bucs in the third set with 13 kills on 26 attempts. However, during the first two sets, Barry held Mattson to six kills on 26 attempts. "We started working on how to defend [Mattson] on Monday," added Hendricks. "She was a big concern and we set our defense up to defend her. I think game three was different because we lost Kishara [Gordon] to injury so we moved our libero, Audren Rose to the left side. So that kind of helped [Mattson] a little bit. We were out-of-sync, but this team has found a way to fight and come back in deficits."

Johanna Voss has stepped up due to injuries on the team. The German finished with four kills, three blocks and two digs.  "Currently, we have three outside-hitters injured, but we all have each others back," Voss said. "No matter who is on the court, we know we have to execute. Even if our libero has to play front row." Rose finished with two kills on 12 attacks, three service aces and oh yeah, what she usually does - 14 digs.

The Buccaneers received 17 votes in the AVCA Coaches Poll last week and should find themselves as one of the top 25 teams in the country when the poll is updated on Monday afternoon.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:

Game One Final: Barry 3, RV Florida Southern 0
Records: Barry (12-0, 4-0 SSC), Florida Southern (6-6, 1-3 SSC)
All-Time Series: Barry is 33-40 against Florida Southern

SUMMARY:

• 1st set | Bucs junior middle-back set the tone on offense right away with seven kills on 15 attempts. The only issue is that Mattson and the Mocs were just as hot boasting a .344 hitting percentage in this set.
• 2nd set | Barry cracked down defensively on Mattson and the Mocs, holding Mattson to one kill on 12 attempts and a -.250 hitting percentage. Florida Southern recorded 10 kills on 41 attempts as a team - .000 hitting percentage.
• 3rd set | Barry looked like they would run away with the match after being up 8-3 early in the set, but the Mocs came storming and tied things up at 18, leading Hendricks to call a timeout for the Bucs. Freshman setter, Bianca Pasca put the nail in the coffin for Barry with an ace as the final point.

NOTEWORTHY:.

• Junior outside-hitter Megi Buvinic recorded a season-high, 18 digs.
• After boasting a .344 hitting percentage in the first set, Barry held Florida Southern to a .064 hitting-percentage in sets two and three.
• Anastasiia Samokhvalova set a season-high for a game with seven blocks.

ON THE HORIZON:

The Buccaneers travel to West Palm Beach on Tuesday, September 18th against the No. 4-ranked Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish. The match is set for 7:00 pm at the Rubin Arena.