Box Score ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - After posting a pair of impressive wins last weekend, the Eckerd College volleyball team struggled to open this weekend in dropping a straight sets match to Lynn University (13-25, 22-25, 17-25) in the McArthur Center on Friday night.
The Knights (8-6, 2-4) gave Eckerd trouble all night with their service, totaling 11 aces and keeping the Tritons from making good first passes to set up the attack.
Lynn pulled away midway through the first set after a series of side-outs left the score tied at 8-8. The Knights rolled off 11 points in the next 13 rallies, taking a commanding lead that they rode to a 25-13 set win. The visitors benefited from eight Eckerd attack errors as the Tritons hit -.036 for the set.
The Knights jumped ahead early in the second set, building a 13-7 lead, before Eckerd (7-7, 2-4) rallied to tie the set at 22-22 behind three kills each from
Lauryn Nelson and
JaQuayla Baker. However, Lynn regrouped and took the final three points - the last two on EC attack errors - to take a 2-0 lead.
In the third set, Lynn broke a 10-10 tie and built a cushion by taking nine of the next 11 points. The Tritons managed to pull back within five points before the Knights closed out the set and the match with a 25-17 win.
Eckerd's attack percentage improved after the first set but Lynn still held a distinct advantage in that area, hitting .299 compared to .125 for the Tritons. Baker and Nelson were bright spots in the attack; Baker had a team-high seven kills on 17 attempts while Nelson had six kills on seven attempts.Â
Kaitlyn Sibson had 18 digs on the back row.
The Tritons get a chance to rebound tomorrow as they host Nova Southeastern at 4:00 PM. The Sharks (11-5, 4-2) were swept by Saint Leo tonight.
