Box Score LAKELAND, Fla. - For the second Saturday in a row, the Eckerd College volleyball team took a nationally-ranked opponent to five sets.
Unfortunately, the Tritons were unable to complete the upset as No. 19 Florida Southern rallied from a two-set deficit for a 3-2 win to move into a three-way tie for second place in the Sunshine State Conference.
Eckerd (13-13, 4-9) dominated the match early, taking the first two sets by scores of 25-19 and 25-16. The Tritons hit .333 in the first set and limited the Mocs to .086 in the second set, putting themselves in prime position to hand FSC only its second home loss of the season.
The Mocs (21-6, 8-5), however, turned the tide in the next two sets, hanging on for a 25-22 win in the third set and pulling away for a 25-14 win in the fourth set. EC battled back in the third set with four straight points to get back within a point before FSC took the final two points.
In the fifth set, Eckerd jumped ahead early and took a 6-3 lead but Florida Southern fought back and took the lead shortly after the side switch with three straight points to make it 9-8. The teams then swapped points on the next 12 rallies before the Mocs finally put the match away on a Kayshia Brady kill.
The Tritons out-hit FSC for the match, .173 to .168, but the Mocs had six more kills and hit .400 in the final set.Â
Tjasa Kotnik posted her fourth straight double-double with a match-high 19 kills and 22 digs.Â
JaQuayla Baker had 14 kills and four blocks while
Lauryn Nelson added nine kills.Â
Kaitlyn Sibson posted another strong performance on the back row with 23 digs, while
Emily Schadow had 46 assists.
Eckerd returns to action next weekend visiting Nova Southeastern on Friday and Lynn on Saturday.
