Box Score ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Eckerd College volleyball team kept it close in each set while falling in a Sunshine State Conference battle against Saint Leo University on Wednesday night in the McArthur Center, 3-1 (27-25, 25-27, 25-19, 25-22).
The Tritons (8-6, 2-4 SSC) were trailing and looking to push their opponent to a decisive fifth set, but ultimately could not surpass the Lions' (12-5, 2-2 SSC) offense as junior Tawni Warren tallied a season-high 19 kills on the night.
Saint Leo's Alexa Griffith-Hardy, the current SSC Offensive Player of the Week presented by VALIC, hit a team-high .375 and collected 11 kills, while senior Jordan Sisson was 10-for-19 for a .386 attacking percentage.
SLU's Lauren Campbell also added 15 kills.
After assembling a six-match win streak, the Tritons are continuing to look for consistency since the start of their conference schedule, dropping the last four of five matchups against top-tier caliber opponents garnering national recognition.
The Tritons outblocked the Lions 12 to nine, but were limited to only a .171 attacking percentage compared to Saint Leo's .247.
Sophomore
Tjasa Kotnik and junior
Katarina Milojevic continue to be a consistent force all around for the Tritons.
Kotnik hit an impressive 16-for-35 (.429) while Milojevic collected eight kills. Kotnik also collected four block assists and one solo block, and Milojevic contributed three block assists and two solo blocks.
Kotnik ranked ninth overall in the Sunshine State Conference in attacking percentage coming into tonight. Senior
Lindsay Biggs also added 11 kills and junior
Ali McAlvany supplied 10 kills for the Tritons.
For the second consecutive match, senior setter
Madison Burr delivered 34 assists. Burr is currently ranked fourth overall at Eckerd in career assists (2,300).
On the serving front, senior libero
Kaleigh Humphrey added a crowd-pleasing three service aces -- a season-high -- of the team's nine.
Eckerd and Saint Leo played neck-in-neck in the first set. With the score all tied up at 25-25, the Lions pulled away after a Tritons' attacking error and a kill from Warren.
In the second set, Eckerd recovered from a 17-22 deficit to tie it up at 25-25. A kill from Biggs and a Saint Leo setting error gave the Tritons the set and tied the match at 1-1.
Eckerd would try and rally late, taking a one-point lead early on in each set, but Saint Leo sealed a 25-19 third-set win and a 25-22 fourth-set win.
The Tritons will take a short break from conference play next Monday, Oct. 14, as they host the University of Saint Francis (Ill.) at 7 p.m. at McArthur Center.
