Box Score WINTER PARK, Fla. - The Eckerd volleyball team needed to finish its regular-season slate with a pair of wins to help solidify its position for a bid to the regional tournament.
The Tritons recorded the first of those wins on Tuesday night, overcoming a 2-1 deficit to complete a season sweep of Rollins College with a five-set victory (25-20, 18-25, 19-25, 25-20, 15-13) on the road.
Tonight, Eckerd (18-12, 9-6 SSC) relied heavily on its defense which helped compensate for an off night on the attack.
"Defense was huge for us tonight," said EC head coach
Michelle Piantadosi. "It was the reason we were able to pull out the win."
The Tritons posted a season-high 19.5 blocks - including 12 total blocks from
JaQuayla Baker - as part of an effort that forced Rollins into 43 attack errors and a .057 hitting percentage.
Baker also factored into a pair of huge points to seal the match as the senior put away kills on the last two rallies of the night, turning a 13-13 tie into a vital match victory for Eckerd.
It was also a career night for libero
Kaitlyn Sibson in more ways than one. The junior not only recorded a career-best 38 digs,but she also broke her own program record for most digs in a season with 568. She led a group of four Tritons to record 10 or more digs along with
Arielle Erillo (17),
Keri McMahon (11) and
Gabriella Reis (10).
Eckerd forced the Tars (11-18, 3-11 SSC) into 13 attack errors in the first set on the way to a 25-20 win, but suffered from role reversal in the next two sets. EC hit a combined -.110 in the second and third frames as Rollins eased to 25-18 and 25-19 set margins for a 2-1 lead in the match.
EC took control in the fourth set via a run of six consecutive points, turning a tie into a 21-15 lead while forcing Rollins into five errors. The Tars managed to pull back within three points, but a pair of kills from
Mackenzie Redner helped send the match to a decisive fifth set.
The final set remained tight until Eckerd built a small cushion with three straight points, two of which stemmed from blocks from Baker,
Lauryn Nelson and
Stephanie Karlovics, for a 12-9 lead. Rollins fought back to tie the set at 13-13 before Baker finished it with a pair of kills.
Baker's 12 blocks were the most by a Triton since Alex Laton matched the total on September 3, 2011. Sibson's 38 digs were the program's most dating back to at least 2004.
Redner led the attack with 13 kills while
Kali Boatwright added 10.
Eckerd completes the regular season on Thursday with a visit to Florida Tech and will then await to find out its postseason fate on Sunday when the NCAA Division II Volleyball Selection Show airs.
