TAMPA, Fla. – The Lynn University volleyball team opened the 2022 NCAA South Regional Championship with a 3-1 victory over Florida Southern, Friday afternoon.
 
The win is the eighth-straight for the Fighting Knights and marks the third victory this season over the Moccasins. Lynn is now 24-5 overall and is 9-1 in matches held at a neutral location.
 
The Fighting Knights advance to the semifinals tomorrow and will face No. 17 Barry at 5:00 pm. The two programs faced one another two times during the regular season and Lynn won both meetings, 3-0.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Lynn captured the victory by winning sets one (25-14), three (25-13) and four (25-17)
- The Fighting Knights lost set two 25-20 and trailed by as many as nine points before pulling to within five at the end of the game
- The Fighting Knights hit .293 and held Florida Southern to just .104. Lynn hit .375 in set one and .310 in set four
- Lynn took control of the first set with a 10-1 run that pushed a three-point cushion into a 20-8 lead
- Graduate students Monica Mazzoleni and Nikolija Katanic smacked two late kills to seal the 25-14 win
- Lynn scored the first four points of set three and later posted another 4-0 run for an 11-5 lead
- The Fighting Knights capitalized on a handful of errors and scored the final five points for the 25-13 win
- Florida Southern led 13-10 in the fourth set before Lynn took control of the match with a 7-1 run for a 17-14 lead
- The Fighting Knights rattled off five-straight points to increase the lead to 22-15  and sophomore Aline Olegario had a late kill as Lynn sealed the match with the game-four win (25-17)
 
FIGHTING KNIGHT STATS:
- Senior Nadia Lindner smacked a match-high 19 kills with 11 digs. She moved into ninth in program history with 694 career kills
- Senior Paige Barash had 13 kills and 14 digs
- Mazzoleni had 13 kills and hit .440
- Olegario had eight kills, hit .533 and posted five blocks
- Katanic had six kills and hit .667
- Graduate student Marin Black posted 16 digs
- Senior Emily Edwards handed out 53 assists with 12 digs. She is now ninth in program history for assists in a season season with 1,103
- Sophomore Isabella Gentile added 12 digs
 
POSTGAME QUOTES:
Adam Milewski (Head Coach) … On his thoughts about the match
"It was a really tough match as I thought Florida Southern did some tough things that made it difficult to defend. I think we did a really nice job of balancing our offense and that helped us out in the third with moving the ball around and scoring at a really high level. It's a good win for us."
 
Nadia Lindner (Outside Hitter) … On the match and playing Florida Southern during the regular season
"We played the Mocs three times and the two previous games were completely different. The first game was five sets, the second was three and today it was four. It just tells you how different games can be. They're a great team and our conference is great."
 
Nikolija Katanic (Outside Hitter) … On the match and playing Florida Southern
"They did a great job of being more offensively aggressive, their outside especially, but they also had success in the middle. I think all the players on their side of the court could score."
 
Milewski … On preparation for Barry in quarterfinals
"I'm really fortunate to have extremely intelligent volleyball players on my team that are understanding the game at a really high level. Whether it's somebody new we are playing or somebody we've played before, they (players) are very detailed in their scouting. They make adjustments in-game very flawlessly."