Box Score DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - On a roller-coaster night for the Eckerd College volleyball team, the Tritons managed to finish things on a high note.
Eckerd came back from a 2-1 deficit, rallying for a five-set win over Embry-Riddle on Friday night by scores of 25-22, 19-25, 20-25, 25-23, 15-12.
Even in the final two sets, the outcome wasn't certain until the end despite the Tritons (12-8) building large leads in each.
In the fourth set, Eckerd rolled off seven straight points behind the service of
Kaitlyn Sibson and took an 18-9 lead only to see the Eagles come right back. A run of five consecutive points got ERAU back within a point at 21-20, but would get no closer as the teams traded points for the rest of the set until a
JaQuayla Baker kill extended the match to a fifth set.
Eckerd then took the first seven points of the fifth set and led 8-1 at the changeover, but once again Embry-Riddle rallied to make things interesting. Six straight Eagle points got the hosts within one, though they were never able to tie the set. The Tritons pushed their lead up to four at set point, then closed out the match after two ERAU points on a kill by
Mackenzie Redner.
"We played hot and cold tonight," said EC head coach
Michelle Piantadosi. "It was a roller coaster performance. Despite not playing our best, I was really happy with how we stuck it out and fought for the win."
Eckerd took the first set despite hitting just .024, instead leaning on five service aces as the team overcame a 15-11 deficit and took five of the final six points of the set. The Eagles (12-8) took control in the middle portion of the next two sets to take a 2-1 lead before the Tritons began to mount their comeback.
Sibson had a huge night on the back row with five aces and a career-high 32 digs, putting her over 800 for her young Eckerd career.
Tjasa Kotnik led the team with 20 kills and posted a double-double with 13 digs.
Emily Schadow also had a double-double (51 assists, 12 digs).
Baker and
Lauryn Nelson balanced out the attack with 16 and 14 kills respectively.
The Tritons finish off the road trip tomorrow with a visit to Rollins on Saturday at 4:00 PM. The Tars, who started the season 1-12, continued to turn their season around tonight with a straight-sets win over Saint Leo.
