ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Eckerd Tritons (8-6, 2-3) could not carry the momentum of a first-set victory into the second set en route to losing to the 24th-ranked Saint Leo Lions (14-2, 5-0 SSC), 3-1 (20-25, 25-22, 25-22, 26-24) on Wednesday evening at the McArthur Center.
"[We] had the momentum and [our girls] were excited...we were fired up to play and ready in the opening set.
[Then we] came out a little flat in the second set,” Coach Draper said.
After a first set that saw Eckerd hit for a whopping .517 attack percentage led by four kills each by
Lydee Benoit and
Taylor Whaley, the Lions held the Tritons to .243, .154, and .229 attack percentages over the final three sets.
According to Coach Draper, the second set, and in particular her squad's serve receiving, was critical to the outcome of the match.
"I think we lost our focus [in the second set]. We got into a little bit of a passing issue and when you can't pass, you can't run an offense. That was probably the weakest stretch of passing that we had in the beginning of the second set."
Eckerd's best chance for a comeback came in the fourth and final set, when a kill by
Ariana Chinn tied the set at 24-24. SLU's Danielle Bletso, however, regained the lead for the Lions with a kill before a service ace by Bruna Rocha clinched the victory for the Lions.
"I knew today was going to be extremely competitive," Draper said. "It always is with Saint Leo; they are 24th in the country and we are 25th, so it certainly could have gone either way.”
For the match, Benoit led Eckerd with 19 kills while
Taylor Manning and
Ariana Chinn each collected 14 and 13 kills, respectively, while hitting at least .320. Benoit and Manning also collected three total blocks each. Rocha led all players with 17 kills and a sterling .469 attack percentage while she and Emily Calderon-Reyes each collected 11 digs.
Eckerd now turns its attention to No. 17 Florida Southern as the Tritons hit the road for Lakeland, Fla. for another key SSC match on Saturday at 7pm.
More Quotes
On Lydee Benoit and Taylor Manning:
"Lydee is just an experienced and smart player that is going to make great plays. Manning, as a middle, when we are passing and defending well .. she is tough to defend.. she gets up early and has a high fast snap.”
On what she said in the huddle prior to the fourth set:
“Mostly [we talked] about strategy because [Saint Leo's] middles are extremely successful, so we talked a lot about playing the ball to the setter so that the setter could not run the middle...
keeping a tough serve and blocking a few more balls.”
Coach Draper talking about what the team will take from this loss into their next match against Florida Southern:
"We have been working on a couple different line-ups.
Maybe the same people but in different positions. I think we need a little more consistency and focus on our serving and passing game.”
