PORTLAND, Ore. – Junior Alisha Bettinson and sophomore Maddie Mehciz each recorded double-doubles, while senior Christie Colasurdo led five players with 10 or more digs, but the Western Oregon volleyball could not cap off an upset bid falling in five sets to No. 15 Florida Southern on Thursday at LCEF Court.
 
Set scores were 25-11, 25-18, 20-25, 21-25, 9-15.
 
The Wolves fall to 0-1, while the Moccasins rallied from two sets down to nab their first win of the year.
 
Bettinson notched a team-high 17 kills and added 13 digs. Mehciz, the setter, dished up a match-high 45 assists while digging up 17 balls. Colasurdo had 20 digs to lead the defensive specialists. Sheila Limas De La Cruz had 14 digs while Libbie Hoene picked up 12 digs and had three aces.
 
The Wolves never trailed in the opening set, scoring three of the first four points on a pair of kills by Amanda Short and a FSU attack error. The Mocs would pull within a point but a 13-0 run closed out the opening set. WOU had only three errors to post a .350 hitting percentage in the first set.
 
After never trailing, WOU raced out to a 6-1 thanks to a pair of kills from Mehciz and senior Paige Orth. Midway through the set, Bettinson had two kills to push the lead to 17-9. Florida Southern could not cut into the lead, getting as close as 24-18 before Mehciz put down the final ball of the set. The Wolves trimmed their errors to two and had 18 kills to post a massive .444 hitting mark to take a two-set lead.
 
Florida Southern took their first lead on the opening point of the third set on a service error and built a 3-1 lead on two more early attack errors from the Wolves. In an effort for the sweep, WOU pulled even at 12-12, but a 5-0 Mocs run proved to be enough cushion to last until the end of the set.
 
Set four looked promising for WOU beginning with consecutive kills by Orth. The Wolves built a 13-10 lead before Florida Southern reeled off eight of the next 10 points to lead 18-14. A final salvo brought the Wolves to within one, 21-20, but three costly attack errors tilted the set to the Mocs, evening the match at two sets each.
 
The fifth set was tied twice in the first four points, but at 3-4, five straight by Florida Southern gave the ranked club the lead for good. WOU could not string any runs together and staved off one match point via a service error. The Mocs won the contest on their second match point, 15-9. FSU had eight kills and no errors while WOU put down four kills and had three miscues in the final stanza.
 
The Wolves return to action on Friday against Embry-Riddle at LCEF Court at 2:30 p.m. The match will be the second of the Concordia Labor Day Tournament for Western Oregon.