Box Score - (EC vs. California (Pa.) University)
Box Score - (EC vs. Kentucky State University)
WINTER PARK, Fla. – The 19th-ranked Eckerd College volleyball program continued to make strides on Saturday, defeating California (Pa.) University, 3-1, and Kentucky State University, 3-0, to close out the Rollins College Invitational.
Eckerd defeated California by scores of 13-25, 27-25, 25-19 and 30-28, before taking care of business against the overmatched Thorobreds from KSU in just 54 minutes, 25-6, 25-12 and 25-10.
An all-tournament team will be announced by Rollins. Selections were not available at the time of release.
EC prevented California from having a perfect showing at the tournament after the Vulcans swept both host No. 22 Rollins on Friday and Minnesota State University-Moorhead this afternoon in straight sets.
The Tritons (3-1, 0-0 SSC) dug themselves out of a five-point deficit (down 19-24) with the Vulcans just one point away from tying the match at two sets apiece in the fourth set.
Against the Vulcans and Thorobreds, it was that kind of resiliency and killer instinct shown to close out an opponent that pleased first-year Head Coach
Michelle Piantadosi.
“Our girls came out focused and we made the best of what we learned from our loss yesterday,” Piantadosi said. “This weekend gave us a new perspective on some things we need to work on and they are excited about continuing to get better.”
“As a (former) athlete and coach, we could have easily given up the fourth set (against California) to just get ready for the fifth set,” she added. “I called timeout and said, 'Why don't we win this right now?' I'm proud of them for getting it done.”
After coming up just one kill shy of her career-best total of 21 (vs. Rollins in 2011) yesterday, junior All-American
Lindsay Biggs continued to assume her dominance.
Biggs racked up 15 more against California as she surpassed the 750-kill mark in her career to creep closer to the top-10 leaders in school history.
She led four teammates with 10 or more kills, joined by
Ali McAlvany's 13, and
Taylor Whaley/
Olivia Fraser with 10 apiece. For the second straight match in a row, junior setter
Madison Burr ran the offense to the tune of a new career-high 51 assists.
EC overcame 24 kills spiked by Cal's Brandy Harris and 11 total blocks put up by the Vulcans.
Harris may have tired down the stretch as the Tritons assembled a 6-0 run to even things up at 24-24 in the fourth set. Senior
Alex Laton contributed back-to-back kills in the key stretch while a service error and Biggs kill ended the theatrics past regulation.
Eckerd forced Kentucky State into 21 attacking errors for a negative percentage of -.148. The Tritons tallied seven total blocks, including three assisted stuffs by sophomore
Katarina Milojevic and a pair by junior
Jordan Miller.
There was an equal distribution of offense as every player on the roster made an appearance. Milojevic and
Ana de Olano each had six kills despite playing in just two sets.
The Tritons will entertain MSU-Moorhead on Thursday for their home opener in the McArthur Center before preparing to host another edition of the Eckerd College Classic.
MSU-Moorhead, Northwood (Fla.) University, Newberry (S.C.) College and Rollins, will be in attendance.
Live stats and video will be streamed for every match on EckerdTritons.com, while an audio broadcast will accompany the Eckerd contests. An official Eckerd College Classic web page with all available links will be unveiled early next week.
“We're excited to be playing at home next week,” Piantadosi said. “We'd love to see our fans in the stands supporting the team.”
