Balanced Attack Lifts Tritons to Sweep of Nova Southeastern

Box Score ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Eckerd College volleyball team got back on track on Saturday afternoon as the Tritons posted a straight-sets win over Nova Southeastern (25-22, 27-25, 25-23) in the McArthur Center.

The Tritons (8-7, 3-4) took significant leads in all three sets only to see the Sharks battle back each time.  But Eckerd remained unshaken every time NSU made a push, making plays at crucial times to close the weekend with a victory.

EC jumped out to an 8-4 lead in set one behind three Tjasa Kotnik kills, and later extended it to 17-11 before the Sharks erased the deficit to tie the set at 20-20.  After the teams traded the next four points, Eckerd finished off the set with kills from JaQuayla Baker, Katie Arnette and Kotnik to take a 1-0 lead.

Five straight points early in set two for the Tritons sent them to a 7-2 lead which eventually grew to 14-7 until NSU (11-6, 4-3) again fought back to tie the set at 16-16.  It stayed close the rest of the set while the Sharks twice fending off set point before another Kotnik kill finished things off.

The third set saw Eckerd jump out to a 10-5 lead before NSU took five straight points to tie the set.  After the Sharks took a one-point lead, the Tritons responded with a run of eight points in nine rallies to take control with a 20-14 lead.

As they had done all day, the Sharks fought back to get within two points (21-19) before Eckerd got to match point with a four-point cushion.  Three points of that cushion quickly disappeared, but a service error by NSU's Denvyr Tyler-Palmer closed out the sweep for the Tritons.

"I was proud of how we bounced back after a poor performance last night," said Eckerd head coach Michelle Piantadosi.  "It was a solid game of volleyball statistically as both teams were even across the board, so I was really happy with how we were able to be mentally tough enough to push and take the win in all three close sets."

The Tritons got 15 kills from Kotnik while Arnette had 12 and Baker added nine.  Emily Schadow had 34 assists while Kaitlyn Sibson recorded 17 digs.

Eckerd travels to Carrollton, Georgia, next weekend to participate in the South Region Crossover hosted by West Georgia.