Click here to watch the postgame press conference
TAMPA, Fla. – The Eckerd College volleyball team's season came to an end after falling to the University of West Florida in five sets on Thursday afternoon, 3-2 (21-25, 17-25, 25-9, 25-23, 12-15), in the opening round of the NCAA Championship South Regional.
Eckerd received the No. 3 seed in the tournament against No. 6 West Florida. The Tritons (20-10 overall) made their second straight trip to the postseason under head coach
Michelle Piantadosi and seventh in the last eight years.
"Overall, I'm just so proud of the fight we had today," Piantadosi said in the postgame press conference. "We knew going in it was going to be a battle, but obviously I believed in my team from the beginning."
The Tritons opened the match dropping two tough first sets, but did not let the margin change their game plan.
"They play well with their backs against the wall, and they came out swinging," Piantadosi said of the two-set comeback.
Eckerd opened the third set with a 5-2 lead, inducing a UWF timeout. After the timeout, the Tritons went on a 10-0 run to take a commanding 12-2 advantage
Eckerd would finish out the set, 25-9, taking advantage of 12 UWF errors. Sophomore
Tjasa Kotnik had a breakout set with seven kills.
The Tritons continued to fight through the fourth set. Both teams went point-for-point until Eckerd broke away on a kill from junior
Grace Jones, 11-8, and West Florida called timeout.
The Argonauts would regain the lead, 19-17, threatening to end the match, but three Tritons' kills and four West Florida errors brought Eckerd to set point. Kotnik closed out the set, 25-23 with a kill.
Eckerd opened the final set leading, 6-1, but the Argonauts fought back and tied the set at six. A kill from freshman Corisha Smith gave West Florida match point, but still Eckerd did not let up. The Tritons took three straight points before a kill from senior Jenny Bellairs ended the match.
Senior
Lindsay Biggs led the team in kills with 17, while Kotnik added 12 kills and a team-high .276 attacking percentage.
The Tritons posted 16 total team blocks, with junior
Katarina Milojevic heading the defense with nine.
The Argonauts will continue to the semifinal round in the bracket against No. 7 seed Rollins College tomorrow after taking down No. 2 Palm Beach Atlantic University.
