LAKELAND, Fla. - The Eckerd Tritons (3-3) dazzled on Saturday as they defeated the Bemidji State Beavers (3-4), 3-1 (24-26, 25-17, 25-22, 25-21) as well as the 11th-ranked Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs (6-2), 3-1 (25-19, 25-19, 27-29, 25-22) at the Florida Southern Classic at Jenkins Fieldhouse.
Against Bemidji State, the Tritons overcame a 26-24 defeat in the first set to win the last three sets. In the second stanza, Eckerd took a 2-1 lead on a kill by Regi Silva and never looked back, bulging its lead to as much as eight (22-14) in a run that included five straight kills by
Lydee Benoit and back-to-back service aces by
Megan Golovkin.
In the third set, the Tritons led from wire-to-wire with
Taylor Manning earning the last two points for Eckerd. The Tritons would then clinch the match in the fourth set, pulling away from a 20-20 tie to score five of the match's last six points.
For the match, Benoit led all players with 18 kills while
Ariana Chinn and
Taylor Manning each registered 11 kills. Manning led Eckerd defensively with seven total blocks. Bethany Thompson led the Beavers with 12 kills.
Against the Bulldogs, Eckerd got off to a blazing start in the first set, opening on a 13-2 run en route to an easy 25-19 victory capped by a kill by Chinn. It was much of the same in set number two as the Tritons, up 13-12, would go on a 12-7 run to close out the set.
UMD fought back in the second set as the two squads stayed deadlocked until the Bulldogs mustered two consecutive points on Eckerd errors to take the set, 29-27. The Tritons proved too strong in the fourth set, however, pulling out a set in which they only held a 23-22 lead by scoring the last two points on kills by Benoit and
Allegra Shaw.
Benoit once again led all players with 17 kills while
Megan Golovkin and
Bri Smith collected 24 and 23 set assists, respectively. Shaw also added seven total blocks.
Eckerd will return to the hardwood on Sunday as they face #6 Grand Valley State and East Stroudsburg in the Eckerd Tritons Tournament, beginning at 4pm at the McArthur Center.
