ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Eckerd volleyball team showed no signs of quit in a difficult match on Saturday hosting No. 8 Tampa. The Spartans breezed through the first two sets, but the Tritons claimed the third before succumbing to a late Spartan rally in the fourth.
Senior
Arielle Erillo reached a career milestone during the first set, recording her 1000th career dig.
HOW IT ENDED
Final: #8 Tampa 3, Eckerd 1 (14-25, 15-25, 25-21, 20-25)
Records: Eckerd 9-11 (4-9 SSC), Tampa 20-1 (13-0 SSC)
KEY MOMENTS
- The Spartans opened up an early lead in the first set at 8-3 on the heels of a four-point run. Another four-point run extended UT's lead to 14-6, and Eckerd was not able to recover. Tampa led by as many as 12 points on the way to a 25-14 win.
- Eckerd started stronger in set two and held a one-point lead on five occasions, the last coming at 14-13. Things quickly changed, however, behind the service of Tampa's Alexandra Misca. UT rolled off 11 straight points, aided by seven consecutive Eckerd errors, and took a 2-0 lead in the match.
- A four-point run early in the third set helped Eckerd to a 10-5 lead. The Spartans quickly cut the deficit to two points before the Tritons put together another four-pount run. EC's lead grew to as much a seven points, and the Tritons held off a late Tampa push with kills from Abbie O'Ferrell, Sarah Johnshoy, and Paula Hoffmann finishing off the set with a 25-21 win to keep EC alive.
- Tampa rolled off five straight points for a 10-5 lead in the fourth set only to see Eckerd storm back and pull within one. However, the Tritons couldn't manage to get a point to tie the set. A Hoffmann kill made the score 20-19, but UT won points on five of the last six rallies to complete the 3-1 victory.
NOTES AND NUMBERS
- Erillo picked up her 1000th career dig as part of a nine-dig first set. She finished with a match-high 19 kills and needs 13 more in order to move into 10th place in Eckerd program history.
- O'Ferrell led Eckerd with 13 kills, all of which came in the last three sets. Hoffmann also reached double-digits in kills with 10.
- Hoffmann (10 kills, 13 digs), O'Ferrell (13 kills, 10 digs), and Lauren Kadilis (31 assists, 16 digs) both posted double-doubles for Eckerd.
- The Spartans remained unbeaten in conference play, but Eckerd handed UT what was only its seventh set loss of the season.
UP NEXT
The Tritons head to Orlando next weekend for the South Region Crossover where they will face off against three opponents from the Gulf South Conference.
