No. 19 Saint Leo Overcomes Eckerd's Hot Start

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Eckerd volleyball team got off to a quick start on Tuesday hosting No. 19 Saint Leo, but the Lions used early runs in the second, third and fourth sets to secure a 3-1 win over the Tritons in the McArthur Center.

HOW IT ENDED
Final: Saint Leo 3, Eckerd 1 (16-25, 25-18, 25-20, 25-14)
Records: Eckerd 6-4 (2-4 SSC); Saint Leo 10-1 (5-1 SSC)
All-Time Series: Eckerd leads, 40-36

HOW IT HAPPENED
* Things looked good for the Tritons in the early part of the match as EC rolled off five consecutive points for a 7-3 lead in the first set.  After swapping points for a series of rallies, Eckerd pushed the lead to seven and then took four straight points late in the set for a 23-13 lead.  SLU fought off set point twice but Paula Hoffmann's kill gave to first set to the Tritons, 25-16.
* EC took a 6-5 lead in the second set but ran into trouble when, behind the service of Jen Kruglova, SLU rolled off nine consecutive points.  A Hoffmann kill finally broke her serve, but the damage was done at that point as the Lions' lead was too large for Eckerd to overcome.  The Tritons pulled within four (17-13) on the heels of five points in six rallies capped by back-to-back aces by Kali Boatwright.  However, Eckerd got no closer as Saint Leo evened the match at one set apiece with a 25-18 win.
* After the Tritons jumped ahead in the third set, 6-4, Saint Leo again went on an extended run, this time winning six straight points for a 10-6 lead.  The Tritons got a side-out on a Hoffmann kill followed by a kill from Payton Meader to cut the deficit in half, but could not manage to tie the set.  Another SLU run of four straight points extended its lead to 19-12.  EC managed to close the gap to four points late in the set (22-18), but the teams swapped points on the next five rallies as the Lions took a 2-1 match lead following a 25-20 set win.
* Saint Leo again used an early run in the fourth set to quickly take control.  SLU won the first five points and, after a Meader kill, took points on the next three rallies to lead, 8-1.  Eckerd never recovered from the early deficit as the Lions took a comfortable 25-14 win to close the match.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
* Eckerd held SLU to a negative hitting percentage in the first set (-.050) but the Lions got better as the match progressed.  Nine of their 19 attack errors came in the first set.
* The Tritons tallied more kills than Saint Leo (46-43) but committed 32 attack errors.  Eckerd also had 12 service errors.
* Boatwright recorded her second double-double in her last three matches with 12 kills and 12 digs.  Kaitlyn Sibson had 21 digs, her third time this season to post 20 or more.  Fernanda Reis assisted on 43 of the team's 46 kills.

UP NEXT
The Tritons are back in the McArthur Center on Thursday, hosting Lynn University at 7:00 PM.