ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - With three weeks left in the regular season, every remaining match carries a larger weight of importance for the Eckerd volleyball team.
Playing with an urgency worthy of that weight, the Tritons elevated their performance late in the third and fourth sets on the way to a 3-1 win over Barry University on Friday night in the McArthur Center.
HOW IT ENDED
Final: Eckerd 3, Barry 1 (25-8, 17-25, 25-21, 26-24)
Records: Eckerd 13-9 (6-8 SSC); Barry 9-10 (5-9 SSC)
All-Time Series: Barry leads, 45-15
HOW IT HAPPENED
* Eckerd started quickly in the first set and never let up, rolling off six straight points behind
Kaitlyn Sibson's service. The Tritons later went on an 8-0 run for a commanding 15-3 lead. Barry managed to pull back within nine points before Eckerd again put together a long string of unanswered points.
Arielle Erillo recorded three aces as part of another eight-point run, finishing a dominant 25-8 win in set one.
* After a back-and-forth start to set two, the Bucs won points on nine of 10 rallies to take a 14-7 lead. The Tritons trailed the rest of the set, getting within six points late before Barry evened the match with a 25-17 win while hitting a blistering .387 in the set.
* Barry took a 4-1 lead to open the third set, but it was short-lived as Eckerd won eight of the next nine points. The Tritons continued to pull ahead, using a four-point run to extend their lead to 18-9. The Bucs, however, regrouped following a timeout, taking points on six straight rallies to pull within three. Two kills by
Paula Hoffmann and a Barry attack error seemed to slow the Bucs' momentum, but it was merely temporary. The Bucs narrowed the gap to two points at 22-20, forcing Eckerd to call timeout.
Mackenzie Redner then took over, putting away kills on three of the next four rallies to give the Tritons a 25-21 win.
* The Bucs seemed poised to force a fifth set after taking a 14-7 lead in the fourth. A five-point swing in favor of Eckerd tightened the gap, but the Tritons had trouble closing it all the way. EC cut its deficit to two points on seven occasions only to see Barry respond with a sideout. After the last of those sideouts, Barry got a block from Johanna Voss and Kristina Filimonova to lead 22-18. The teams swapped points on the next two rallies before Eckerd made a dramatic comeback. Hoffmann (a kill and an ace) and Redner (two kills) combined for the next four points, tying the set at 23-23. Filimonova put away a kill to get Barry to set point, but EC won the next three points - capped by another Hoffmann kill - to take the set and the match.
NOTES AND NUMBERS
* Eckerd swept Barry in the regular season for the first time since 2013.
* Hoffmann (21 kills) and Redner (16 kills) combined for 37 of the Tritons' 54 kills.
* The win gives Eckerd sole possession of sixth place in the Sunshine State Conference standings, a game behind Tampa for fifth place and two behind Embry-Riddle in the win column for fourth place.
* After recording 17 aces against Barry in the first contest of the year, the Tritons served nine tonight - five in the first set.
* Both teams hit .279 in the fourth set. Eckerd out-hit Barry for the match, .217 to .176, and hit over .200 in three of the four sets.
QUOTABLE
"We played with so much fire and confidence at the end [of the third and fourth set], and that's how we've been playing the last several matches. We finally have adjusted to our injuries and are feeling confident in what we're doing. Paula and Mackenzie carried us tonight." - Eckerd head coach
Michelle Piantadosi-Lima
UP NEXT
The Tritons try to make it a perfect weekend on Saturday, hosting Nova Southeastern at 4:00 PM. The Sharks nearly pulled a big upset on Friday, losing at No. 24 Saint Leo in five sets.
