Box Score
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Eckerd College volleyball team displayed a killer instinct when the situation called for it most to put the finishing touches on another sweep, this time against the University of West Florida on Friday night, 3-0.
The Tritons (8-1, 1-0 SSC) extended their win streak to eight straight and with a raucous home crowd on their side, dug deep to put away in the Argonauts (3-7, 0-0 GSC) in the latter stages. Eckerd has also now won 13 consecutive sets.
By prevailing via scores of 25-15, 26-24 and 25-22, Eckerd defeated a top-tier opponent in West Florida, which began the season ranked No. 19 in the AVCA Coaches Top-25 Preseason Poll and had a win over the 14th-ranked team in the nation under its belt.
And while the Tritons' offense has been acclaimed this season in its own regard, Eckerd's defense came through with 10 total blocks and forced the Argonauts into a lackluster .129 hitting percentage that included 23 errors.
None of those blocks may have been more critical than the combination delivered by Lindsay Biggs and Olivia Fraser at the net to snap a 20-20 tie and begin a 3-0 run late in the third frame.
The match was ended on a clean kill down the middle from junior Alex Laton, who finished the match with 10.
“We really saw that West Florida brought out the intensity after falling down 0-2,” said Biggs, who had 11 kills and 14 digs. “We've had a good streak, but we needed to come out and take care of business. Defensively, (Head) Coach (Courtney) Draper gave us a great gameplan and everything clicked tonight.”
The Argonauts have navigated through a tough schedule which includes losses to three top-10 programs including No. 10 Hillsdale, No. 4 Washburn and No. 6 Southwest Minnesota State.
But the Tritons were unfazed and came out of the gates strong by ending the first set on a 5-0 run, keyed by back-to-back solo blocks from Biggs and freshman right-side hitter Ali McAlvany.
Eckerd built up an eight-point advantage in the next frame before the Argonauts rallied to tie at 24-all. Biggs delivered again, this time on the offensive end, for back-to-back kills to give the Tritons another set.
Both teams battled back and forth as neither program could lead more than a one-point margin until the aforementioned 20-20 juncture.
After the assisted block put the Tritons up by one, Fraser answered with one of her eight kills on the night to force West Florida into taking a timeout. Maija Strazdina and Ariana Chinn took turns sustaining EC's three-point lead with respective kills before Laton recorded the match's final point.
Fraser finished with six assisted blocks while McAlvany enforced the outside with a pair of solo and assisted rejections.
“We're very excited about this win and ready to show that we can be contenders this year,” Biggs said.
The Tritons are back in action in the McArthur Center for another home conference match tomorrow afternoon, hosting Nova Southeastern University at 4 p.m. Keep an eye out for Triton Bingo and the team will be conducting a free youth clinic immediately afterwards.
