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Box Score 2 ORLANDO, Fla. - The Eckerd volleyball team has proven itself against conference competition so far this season. Now they've done the same against region competition.
The Tritons scored a pair of wins on the first day of the South Region Crossover presented by Junior's Catering, defeating the University of West Georgia in four sets (21-25, 25-20, 25-18, 25-22) before knocking off Gulf South Conference leader University of West Florida in five sets (23-25, 25-20, 13-25, 25-21, 15-9).
Eckerd (13-4) lost the opening set in both contests but rallied to win both times.
In the win over West Florida, the Tritons found themselves in a familiar position as the match headed into a fifth set. It marked the sixth time this season that EC has extended a match to five sets, and the fifth consecutive time that EC has won a five-setter.
After the teams swapped points over the first 14 rallies, Eckerd took control with five straight points for a 12-7 lead. All of EC's points in that run came from kills by
Lauryn Nelson and
Kali Boatwright.
A tandem block by West Florida (14-6) broke Eckerd's run, but by then the damage was done. Another Nelson kill followed by a kill from
JaQuayla Baker put EC at match point, which was quickly secured on an attack error by UWF's Rachel Neblett.
Baker, in particular, came up big in the contest, posting a season-high 22 kills on a blistering .606 attack percentage.
"I knew this game was really going to show us what we were made of," said EC head coach
Michelle Piantadosi. "I am really impressed with the fight of this team against a very strong program in West Florida. JaQuayla really led the team offensively and was a very strong source of confidence for us. I thought we did an excellent job of adjusting throughout the match on offense and defense and staying resilient when UWF made big plays."
The Tritons' backs were against the wall following a 25-13 loss in the third set after a series of errors put Eckerd in a tough position.
But as has often been the case this season, the team fought back.
After UWF jumped out to a 12-8 lead in set four, the Tritons won points on six of the next seven rallies to move ahead. From there, the set was tied six times until EC rolled off four straight points and a 23-19 lead. Two Baker kills later, the Tritons had taken a 25-21 win and pushed the match to a fifth set where Eckerd closed out the victory.
Boatwright recorded a double-double with 14 kills and 16 digs while Nelson added 13 kills.
Kaitlyn Sibson posted 22 digs to lead the defense while the Reis sisters accounted for 51 assists - 37 from
Gabriella Reis and 14 from
Fernanda Reis.
Arielle Erillo (12) and
Madison Whiting (10) also reached double figures in digs.
Opening the day against West Alabama, the Tritons started slowly and dropped the opening set, 25-21, thanks in part to nine attack errors.
Eckerd, however, took control late in the second set, winning points on seven of the last nine rallies.
Mackenzie Redner and
Stephanie Karlovics made key plays in the final moments of the set with Redner's two kills and Karlovics's block and kill accounting for four of the final five Triton points as EC evened the match at one set apiece.
A run of five straight points in the third set gave EC a 15-10 lead, and the Tritons stayed in control the rest of the way.
The fourth set was a back-and-forth affair with nine ties before Eckerd put the match away by taking the final three points of the set. UWA (12-10) rallied from a three-point deficit to tie the set at 20-20 and, after four side-outs, the set remained deadlocked. A fifth side-out on a kill by Baker gave the Tritons the lead and after a bad set got EC to match point, a Sibson ace finished the four-set win.
The Tritons' attack efficiency improved throughout the match, capped by a .333 hitting percentage in the fourth set. Nelson led the Eckerd attack with 12 kills while Redner and
Sarah Johnshoy each had 10 kills. Sibson led a group of four players in double-digit digs with 22. Erillo (18), Whiting (15) and
Gabriella Reis (10) also reached double-digits while Reis posted a double-double with 43 assists.
The annual South Region Crossover pits teams from the Sunshine State Conference and Gulf South Conference against each other. The SSC went 15-4 against their region opponents in Friday's competition.
Eckerd plays its final match of the crossover on Saturday, taking on the University of North Alabama at 12:15 PM.
