Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Eckerd volleyball coach
Michelle Piantadosi had a little trouble finding the right words to sum up her team's opening weekend performance. That, however, should not be taken as a negative.
There was little negative to mention after the Tritons (4-0) won twice on Saturday to complete an unbeaten weekend at the Eckerd College Invitational. After two straight-sets wins yesterday, EC picked up a pair of four-set wins, first over Kentucky State (25-14, 25-27, 25,17, 25-15) before avenging last year's loss to Oklahoma Baptist (25-17, 25-20, 20-25, 25-23) to close the tournament.
"This weekend, we executed everything we've been working on throughout the preseason," Piantadosi said. "One of the goals going into the weekend was finding our flow and it was so good to see us dig our heels in and battle for the wins. The energy and fire of this group is undeniable."
"It's all good things to see early in the season."
Other than a second-set hiccup, the Triton made quick work of Kentucky State (1-3) with another balanced effort on the attack.
Katie Arnette and
Lauryn Nelson each had 11 kills while
Sarah Johnshoy and
Kali Boatwright added seven apiece. EC was also dominant at the service line with 13 aces and defensively at the net with nine blocks. KSU, by contrast, managed only one ace and one block.
Eckerd then capped the weekend with a solid win over Oklahoma Baptist (3-1), a team that defeated the Tritons in five sets last season. A hot start to the first set saw EC claim nine of the first 11 points of the match and stay in control until closing out a 25-17 win while hitting .320 in the set.
In the second set, Eckerd built another early lead and then held off several attempts by OBU to tie the set. After the Bison pulled within a point at 20-19, the Tritons closed the door by taking five of the last six points.
OBU avoided the sweep with a win in the third set, but Eckerd emerged victorious from a hotly-contested fourth set with kills by Boatwright and Nelson in the final two points serving as exclamation points for the weekend.
Boatwright recorded her first double-double of the season with 16 kills and 11 digs. Johnshoy tallied 11 kills while Arnette and Nelson had 10 each.
Kaitlyn Sibson led the back-row defense with a season-best 21 digs.
The Tritons head to South Carolina next weekend to take part in the USC Aiken Invitational, where they will play four times in two days.
