Box Score
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Diana Castrillon drilled 16 kills to lead five of her teammates in double figures as Florida Southern College managed to play spoiler against the 22nd-ranked Eckerd College volleyball program on Senior Day, 3-1 (16-25, 25-15, 25-23, 25-20).
FSC's Lauren Huber added 13 more kills and 10 apiece were scattered by Erin Callahan, Kate Stromberg and Anne Pietkiewicz, as the Mocs (15-12, 9-5 SSC) avenged a five-set home loss in Lakeland and ended the Tritons' school-record win streak at 14 games.
Eckerd suffered its first loss for the first time since Sept. 24 and its first home defeat dating back to the season opener against then-No. 15 Lewis (Ill.) University.
The Tritons (23-4, 11-3 SSC) paid a special pre-game tribute to seniors
Bri Smith,
Hallie Ward and
Ariana Chinn, who played their final home match in the McArthur Center.
“I love this group of seniors dearly and they've helped get our program to where it is now,” EC Head Coach Courtney Draper said.
“It's an emotional moment and we wish we could have given them a win to remember. Florida Southern is a very tough team and they were very balanced today.”
The Tritons were off to the races with a great start, ripping 19 kills that translated into a .415 hitting percentage in the first set.
Junior
Alex Laton, coming off a season-best tying 18 kills against the University of North Alabama on Friday, accounted for six of the team's final seven points in the first frame with four kills and two blocks.
But the momentum quickly shifted to the Mocs' side as the Tritons' hard-hit balls couldn't penetrate their opponent's back-row defense paced by Anna Niebuhr's 16 digs. FSC's Castrillon had six kills in the second set and Huber had her fingerprints on the Mocs' surge with back-to-back blocks that helped snap an early 6-6 tie.
Huber dominated the third set with six kills and two blocks as the Mocs hit an even .300 to pull ahead, 2-1.
The Tritons were aiming to force a decisive fifth set, but Florida Southern was able to emerge from an 18-18 tie in the late stages with a 3-0 run keyed by a kill and consecutive service aces by Stromberg.
Laton led Eckerd with 10 kills and eight blocks while Chinn,
Olivia Fraser and
Lindsay Biggs each added nine kills.
EC will look to get back on the winning track with back-to-back road matches against Lynn University (Nov. 11) and Barry University (Nov. 12) only remaining to close out the regular season.
