ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Junior outside hitter Lindsay Biggs recorded a double-double with 15 kills and 11 digs as the Eckerd College volleyball program gave No. 15 Lewis (Ill.) University all it could handle in a season-opening defeat, 1-3, on Thursday evening in the McArthur Center.
Freshman Ali McAlvany added 11 kills, Maija Strazdina contributed nine and Ariana Chinn chipped in eight to pace the Eckerd offensive attack.
Colleen Mitros led the Flyers with a game-high 22 kills while libero Amy Choi was credited with 21 digs on the defensive end.
The Tritons (0-1, 0-0 SSC) staved off the straight-set sweep by prevailing in the third series, but the Flyers (1-0, 0-0 GLVC), reigning Great Lakes Valley Conference champions, capped off their respective fall debut with a 5-0 run to close the decisive set and claim the match.
Lewis claimed their first victory of the 2011 campaign by scores of 25-23, 26-24, 20-25 and 25-20.
Eckerd carried strong momentum out of the gates by mounting an early 11-4 run off the opening serve, punctuated by a kill from junior Olivia Fraser.
But the Flyers erased the seemingly insurmountable seven-point deficit, managed to tie the first set at 17-17 and took the lead for good after breaking a 19-19 deadlock.
Eckerd forced the Flyers to collect one more point than standard regulation with a gritty second-set effort as neither team could muster more than four points of separation in a see-saw battle. The Tritons would knot things up on three different possessions, but Mitros and Hannah Koeneman accounted for Lewis' final points.
The Tritons played catch up to prevent defeat in the third set, erasing an early six-point margin. Eckerd countered with a 9-2 run after falling behind 4-10 to turn the tables on the Flyers for a 19-17 advantage.
A pair of kills from Biggs down the stretch had Lewis reeling going into what turned out to be the final series.
A trio of Tritons recorded double-digit dig totals in Biggs (11), Hallie Ward (14) and Madison Burr. Burr and Bri Smith each served up 23 assists.
Eckerd is back in action tomorrow at the University of Tampa Classic with matches against Tiffin (Ohio) University and Clarion (Pa.) University. The Tritons begin play on Friday versus Tiffin at 1:15 p.m. before closing out the day against Clarion with a 5:45 p.m. scheduled start.
