Tritons Serve Up Straight-Sets Win Over Barry

MIAMI SHORES, Fla. - Building off the momentum of Friday night's win over Nova Southeastern, the Eckerd volleyball team dominated at Barry University on Saturday on the way to a straight-sets victory over the Buccaneers.

HOW IT ENDED
Final: Eckerd 3, Barry 0 (25-14, 25-14, 25-19)
Records: Eckerd 6-3 (2-3 SSC); Barry 3-3 (1-3 SSC)
All-Time Series: Barry leads, 45-14

HOW IT HAPPENED
* Eckerd fell behind early in the first set, 6-3, before taking points on seven of the next eight rallies for a 10-7 lead.  The Bucs pulled back within a point at 11-10, but EC then went on a tear.  The Tritons dominated the remainder of the set, rolling off eight points in a row behind Kali Boatwright's service - including four aces - for a 25-14 set win.
* An early run of six straight points in the second set gave the Tritons a 7-3 lead.  Barry managed to cut the deficit to two points on two occasions but EC took control once again with four straight points on two Paula Hoffmann kills on both sides of two Fernanda Reis aces.  The lead didn't drop below four points for the rest of the set as Eckerd cruised to its second 25-14 win.
* The Tritons took another 7-3 lead in set three thanks in part to three more service aces. Eckerd never relinquished the lead, extending it to six points following a pair of three-point runs and later to seven points after two Kaitlyn Sibson aces.  Barry managed to stave off set point twice before EC completed the sweep on a Hoffmann kill for a 25-19 set win.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
* The Tritons dominated the match at the service line with 17 aces while allowing none for Barry.
* Eckerd also committed only 14 attack errors and hit .247, its second-best hitting percentage of the season.
* Hoffmann led all attackers with 16 kills.  Boatwright and Arielle Erillo each had five service aces.

NOTABLE
* Eckerd's 17 aces were the program's most in the 25-point set era, and the most overall since recording 18 against Puerto Rico-Bayamon on August 31, 2007.

QUOTABLE
"The team executed our game plan on offense and defense.  We knew that we had to have a strong serving game and I thought we had a lot of confidence from the service line.  Arielle had a great match leading the team in aces.  I thought our block and defense also did a great job shutting down a very physical offensive team." - EC head coach Michelle Piantadosi-Lima

UP NEXT
The Tritons will look to carry that momentum back to the McArthur Center for an important match against No. 20 Saint Leo on Tuesday, October 3.