Tritons Fall in Regular Season Finale at Florida Tech

Box Score MELBOURNE, Fla. - The Eckerd volleyball team saw its three-match winning streak come to an end on Thursday with a 3-1 loss to Florida Tech in the regular-season finale, putting the team's postseason hopes in jeopardy.

Eckerd (18-13, 9-7 SSC) started off by winning the first set, 25-21, after rolling off 10 straight points fueled by three JaQuayla Baker kills and two Kali Boatwright blocks.  FIT narrowed the gap late with five consecutive points but kills from Baker and Boatwright clinched the win in the opener.

The Panthers squared the match at one set apiece with a 25-23 win in the second, though the Tritons fought back from a five-point deficit to tie the set at 19-19 and again at 21-21.  Florida Tech, however, recorded three straight kills to get to set point and eventually tied the match after an Eckerd service error kept it from going into extra points.

The third set proved to be perhaps the most pivotal.  Eckerd once again fought back from a large deficit, turning a 20-14 FIT lead into a tied set at 22-22 with a balanced attack.  Shortly thereafter, EC fended off set point on a kill from Madison Whiting and then got to set point on the next rally via a block from Whiting and Rachel Cornatzer.

Eckerd got to set point two more times, but the Panthers stayed alive in each instance and then took advantage of two Triton errors to pick up a 29-27 win and a 2-1 match lead.

The momentum carried over into the fourth set, where Florida Tech (8-21, 2-13 SSC) took an early lead and held onto it for the remainder of the set for a 25-21 win sealing the match.  The Tritons pulled back within a point at 15-14, but FIT took the next four points and EC never recovered.

Boatwright and Lauryn Nelson led the Eckerd attack with 15 kills each while Baker added 12.  Gabriella Reis (24 assists) and Fernanda Reis (23 assists) helped set the stage for a total of 56 Triton kills.  Kaitlyn Sibson added to her single-season record with 20 digs while Boatwright had 14 and Arielle Erillo added 12.  

Sibson became the first Triton in program history to reach 600 digs in a season, with her total tonight pushing her to 601 on the year.

The loss makes the possibility of a bid to the NCAA South Regional Tournament a longshot, as the Tritons entered the week ranked eighth in the region poll.  Eckerd will find out its postseason fate on Monday during the NCAA Volleyball Selection Show.