DELAND, Fla. – The Eckerd College sand volleyball team opened up their first season of play at the Stetson Spring Break Tournament on Friday falling to Florida Atlantic and No. 9 Florida International 3-0 in both matches.
EC opened up the day against NCAA Division I No. 9, Florida International. The No. 1 slot was composed of
Tjasa Kotnik and
Ali McAlvany. The tandem dropped two sets 21-6 and 21-11.
Madison Whiting and
Gabriella Reis Guimaraes were topped by the Panthers 21-12 in the first set. The pair came back in set two falling late, 21-18. Going in the No. 3 spot was
Katie Arnette and Emily Carpenter. The two were taken down 21-6, 21-13.
The Tritons met up with Florida Atlantic for their second match of the day. Whiting and Reis Guimaraes fell in back to back sets 21-17, 21-17. The No. 2 seed consisted of
Jordan Trimble and
Mackenzie Redner who lost a heartbreaking first set 22-20. The Owls managed to grab the next set, 21-18, to take the match. Arnette and Carpenter fought hard, but were downed 21-12, 21-14 as the No. 3 seed.
"With us being a brand new program, a lot of our players have only been training to play for a month," said Head Coach,
Michelle Piantadosi. "The coaching staff felt that we held our own today against two established Division I programs."
Piantadosi added, "It is a good starting point and we are excited to see improvement as the team continues to gain experience."
Eckerd (0-2) will get right back on the sand Saturday for day two of the Spring Break Tournament.
