Box Score WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - The Eckerd College volleyball team entered the NCAA National Tournament on a hot streak, but ran into a team eager to defend its national title.
The Tritons saw their season come to an end on Thursday afternoon at the south region tournament at Palm Beach Atlantic, falling to the University of Tampa in straight sets (25-22, 25-19, 25-14).
Eckerd head coach
Michelle Piantadosi may not have expected the match to turn out as it did, but did feel that Tampa's experience played a big factor.
"I think we were ready to play," she said, "but nerves got the best of us. [Tampa] has so much more NCAA tournament experience than we do."
"The unknown is a hard thing to prepare for."
Eckerd's nerves were apparent at the start of the match as Tampa built a quick 8-4 lead and eventually pushed ahead by five points. However, the Tritons settled down and erased a 16-11 deficit as they rallied to tie the set at 20-20.
Experience in situations like these is important, and the Spartans used their experience to their advantage as they took the next three points while forcing two EC attack errors. The Tritons managed to pull back within two points but could get no closer as UT closed out the set on a pair of Marissa Lisenbee kills.
Tampa again took control early in the second set, rolling off five straight points for a 9-5 lead before Eckerd fought back once again. The Tritons soon tied the set at 11-11 after a kill by
Emily Schadow, then took two more points out of a UT timeout for a 13-11 lead.
The two teams traded points for the next seven rallies until a Jessica Wagner kill tied the set at 16-16. Soon after, UT took four points in five rallies for a 20-18 lead. Eckerd tried to slow the Spartans down after a timeout, but Tampa picked up where it left off to take five of the next six points for a 2-0 lead.
That momentum carried over into the third set as Berkley Whaley and Jessica Wagner took over on the attack, combining for 11 of the team's 17 kills as Tampa completed the sweep. Eckerd hung close early on but a series of three straight blocks was part of a run of five straight points that gave UT an 11-6 lead, and the Tritons never recovered.
Still, for seniors
Tjasa Kotnik and
Emily Schadow, getting to the national tournament is an accomplishment of which they are quite proud.
"We had lots of ups and downs this season, but we finished strong," said Kotnik. "I'm really proud of my team and I wouldn't want to spend the season with anyone else."
"We went from struggling [early in the season] and having no confidence to being able to show up and win conference games," added Schadow. "It felt good to start from the bottom and work our way up."
Piantadosi praised the leadership her two seniors displayed throughout the season.
"Emily and Tjasa brought us a tremendous culture shift," she said. "We want the returning players to take that an run with it."
Kotnik posted seven kills as did
Lauryn Nelson and
JaQuayla Baker. Schadow finished with 20 assists and
Kaitlyn Sibson led the defense with 13 digs.
The trip to the national tournament was Eckerd's eighth all-time and third under Piantadosi.
