ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Eckerd College volleyball team hits the road this weekend for the final time this season for a pair of Sunshine State Conference matches, visiting Nova Southeastern tonight at 7:00 PM and Lynn University on Saturday for a 4:00 PM match.
COVERAGE: Live Stats (
NSU |
Lynn) | Live Video (
NSU |
Lynn)
SETTING THE STAGEThe Tritons (13-13, 4-9) look to break a four-game skid as conference play begins to wind down. Three of those four losses came against nationally-ranked opponents and two were in five sets, so EC has still been competitive despite the losses. Nova Southeastern (18-10, 8-5) has won four of its last five outings including a 3-0 sweep of Rollins last weekend. Lynn (14-12, 4-9) had lost three straight before picking up a win at Embry-Riddle on Saturday.
LAST TIME THEY METThe Tritons struggled with the service of Lynn as the Knights recorded 11 aces on their way to a 3-0 win over Eckerd in St. Petersburg on October 9. Lynn hit .299 in the contest and was led by 12 kills from Claire Angelich. Eckerd only had 26 kills on the day, with
JaQuayla Baker's seven leading the way.
EC bounced back the following day with a much stronger performance against Nova Southeastern, sweeping the Sharks in straight sets. The Tritons got 15 kills from
Tjasa Kotnik and hit .286 with 45 kills for the contest.
INSIDE THE SERIESvs. Lynn: The Tritons hold a narrow 20-18 lead in the all-time series against Lynn. It's been quite competitive over the last five seasons before this season, with both teams winning five times.
vs. Nova Southeastern: Eckerd leads the all-time series over NSU, 28-22. The teams split their matches last season. The Tritons had won seven straight over the Sharks before last season.
ABOUT THE SHARKS- NSU has been tough to beat at home, entering the weekend with a 9-3 record in the Don Taft University Center. The atmosphere will likely be made even tougher as the Sharks will host both homecoming and senior day festivities over the weekend.
- Dana Holger and Denvyr Tyler-Palmer have been the team's go-to players on offense. Holger leads the team with 3.58 kills per set while Tyler-Palmer averages 2.87 kills per set.
- Despite their success this season, the Sharks rank last in the conference in opponent hitting percentage (.208).
ABOUT THE KNIGHTS- The Knights' attack has been a balanced one this season with five players averaging at least 2.0 kills per set. Cleuza Porto leads the team with 2.57 kills per set followed by Lydia West (2.42), Morgan Dulaney (2.38), Cristina Llorens (2.16) and Claire Angelich (2.01).
- Conversely, Lynn has been one of the toughest teams in the conference against whom to record a kill. The Knights rank third in opponent hitting percentage (.173) and second in opponent kills per match (11.19).
- Lynn has a familiar face on the sidelines in former Triton AVCA All-American Lydee (Benoit) Plexico who is in her first year as an assistant coach with the Knights. She is the program's all-time leader in kills with 1,747.
ABOUT THE TRITONS- Sophomore libero
Kaitlyn Sibson continues her pursuit of her 1000th career dig this weekend. She enters the weekend with 928 in her career as she aims to become only the 10th player in Eckerd history to reach the century mark in digs. Her 460 digs thus far this season rank tied for fourth.
- Senior
Tjasa Kotnik is also chasing a century mark as she enters the weekend with 920 career kills in three seasons. She has a career-high 402 kills this season, currently the 10th-most in a single season in Eckerd history.
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JaQuayla Baker and
Lauryn Nelson have provided balance to Kotnik for the EC attack. Baker averages 2.81 kills per set while Nelson averages 2.47. Baker leads the team with a .302 hitting percentage
