VOLLEYBALL GAMEDAY: Eckerd at #5 Tampa

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Eckerd College volleyball team will face a tough test in its Sunshine State Conference opener tonight as they travel across the bay to take on the defending national champion, No. 5 Tampa.

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SETTING THE STAGE
The fifth-ranked Spartans (6-3) haven't shied away from strong competition in the early season with six of their nine opponents having been ranked in the top 25.  All three of the defending NCAA Division II champions's losses have come against teams in the top 5.  Tampa opened conference play on Tuesday with a straight-sets win over Saint Leo as it looks to re-assert its dominance in the SSC.  Eckerd (5-2) has posted straight-set wins in all five of its victories but is coming off a five-set loss to Seton Hill (Pa.) in the Eckerd College Invitational.  Injuries have shortened EC's bench as well.

LAST TIME THEY MET
Berkley Whaley had 15 kills and Megan Heffron added 13 as the top-ranked Spartans defeated Eckerd in four sets (25-18, 25-16, 25-27, 25-14) in Tampa on November 5, 2014.  Tjasa Kotnik had 13 kills for the Tritons while Kaitlyn Sibson had 14 digs.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Sophomore libero Kaitlyn Sibson earned Eckerd's first conference player of the week nod since 2013.  The Tampa native had 70 digs in four matches last week on her way to defensive player of the week honors.  She also had 21 assists and six service aces.

DIG IT
Speaking of liberos, Tampa's Logan Holanchock has made quite an impact in the back in her first collegiate season.  The freshman from St. Augustine, Florida, leads the conference and ranks eighth in Division II in digs average at  6.13 per set.  Sibson ranks fourth in the conference in digs (5.04), meaning two of the top liberos in the SSC will face off tonight.

TOP HITTERS
Tonight will also feature two of the top hitters in the country in Tampa's Berkely Whaley and Eckerd's Tjasa Kotnik.  Kotnik enters the match ranked eighth nationally in kills per set (4.56) while Whaley - the reigning AVCA Division II National Player of the Year - ranks 16th with 4.33 per set.  Tampa's attack is balanced by Marissa Lisenbee, who averages 3.37 kills per set.

LAST LOSS
It's been a while since the Spartans have lost a match in Sunshine State Conference play.  That loss came on October 28, 2011, at the hands of Eckerd.  It was the only time that the Tritons have defeated Tampa in program history.