Box Score
WINTER PARK, Fla. – The Eckerd College volleyball program continued its strong start in Sunshine State Conference play, taking down rival Rollins College in four sets on Saturday afternoon, 3-1 (26-24, 23-25, 25-21, 25-14).
The Tritons (8-4, 2-0 SSC) and Tars (6-7, 0-2 SSC) have had some memorable showdowns in recent history, the last one ending Rollins' season in the NCAA South Region semifinal last year in five-set fashion.
Junior outside hitter
Lindsay Biggs continued her ascent among the top-10 career leaders in kills, adding 13 more to her cumulative total.
After breaking into the top 10 in Friday night's SSC opening-win against Florida Tech, Biggs passed Angela White (2005-2007) to march up to solo ninth all-time with 849 career kills.
Biggs helped drive the offense along with senior
Taylor Whaley (12 kills) and sophomore
Ali McAlvany (10 kills). Senior middle
Olivia Fraser had seven blocks to lead Eckerd's defensive effort.
EC amassed 113 digs as a team led by 26 from Biggs, 20 from McAlvany and 19 from junior setter
Madison Burr. Burr also tallied 33 assists as EC outslugged Rollins .152 to .133 in the match.
Rollins attended the Eckerd College Volleyball Classic earlier in the season and was still missing the presence of its top gun, AVCA All-American Megan Hodges (hand).
In a tough road environment inside Warden Arena, the Tritons stood tall and stole early momentum with a riveting as their first chance at set point was spoiled with a pair of unforced errors.
After Rollins overcame the 24-22 deficit to tie at 24-all, McAlvany recorded the go-ahead point with a kill and a combined block Whaley and Fraser gave Eckerd a critical one-set advantage.
By all accounts, the Tritons' second-set defeat was still down to the wire as the team hit just .019 in the frame (11 kills versus 10 errors). EC put together a 10-2 run to restore the lead in the middle of the set, but the Tars came back to tie the match at one set apiece.
No team had more than two points of separation in a back-and-forth third frame as EC and RC fought for the lead. After emerging with a 22-21 edge, the Tritons scored the last three points to take the lead again.
The Tritons removed little doubt with a strong start in the fourth set, storming out to a 15-6 lead. The deficit was too large to overcome for Rollins.
EC is next on the road against Palm Beach Atlantic University, heading to West Palm Beach for a 7 p.m. non-conference matchup on Wednesday.
