ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Tritons outlasted the nationally-ranked Spartans in a back-and-forth battle with the defending National Champions to pick up Eckerd's first win over Tampa since 2011.
After dropping the opening set, the Eckerd volleyball team responded to pick the following two sets before winning the decisive fifth as the Tritons upset No. 4 Tampa, 3-2, Tuesday night at the McArthur Center.
UT jumped out to an early lead in the first set and maintained a slight favor before winning the stanza, 25-18. EC took an 11-4 lead early in the second set. Tampa pulled within one at 20-19, but a 5-1 Tritons' stretch to cap the set gave Eckerd the win, 25-20. Eckerd rallied midway through the third set with a 5-2 run to take an 11-10 lead. EC stayed in front the rest of the way and used a Stella Antypa kill to take the set, 25-23. UT utilized a 10-4 start to the fourth set and stayed in front the rest of the way to win the frame, 25-20.
Eckerd rolled off five consecutive points to take a 5-1 favor in the decisive set. However, the Spartans rallied to take a 9-8 lead. The Tritons did not waiver, battling toe-to-toe with UT in the final points as Tampa took a 13-12 advantage. Eckerd then rolled off three straight points capped by an Antypa kill to take the match, 15-13.
HOW IT ENDED
FINAL: Eckerd 3, Tampa 2 (18-25, 25-20, 25-23, 20-25, 15-13)
RECORDS: Eckerd 13-4 (4-4 SSC); Tampa 14-2 (7-2 SSC)
NOTES AND NUMBERS
- Nyla Muskovin led Eckerd with a career-high 15 kills while hitting at a .306 percent clip. She padded her stat line with six blocks and five digs.
- Antypa (13 kills, 14 digs) and Krysten Garrison (38 assists, 14 digs) posted double-doubles. Garrison also added eight kills.
- Ashley Eck paced the defense with 16 digs. She also added six assists.
- Agata Sklepik added double-digit digs with 11.
- Kali Schoening posted a career-high seven blocks.
- The victory is Eckerd's first over Tampa since October 28, 2011, which EC also won in five sets at the McArthur Center.
- Eckerd handed Tampa just their second loss of the season.
QUOTABLE
"I am incredibly proud of our team. We really played like a unit tonight. We had different players stepping up in big moments, and we stayed steady throughout the match," said head coach Michelle Piantadosi-Lima. "To see Nyla [Muskovin] come out and do the things we knew she could do in such a big moment was really special."
UP NEXT
Eckerd travels to Alabama for the South Region Crossover on Friday and Saturday. Eckerd battles Auburn- Montgomery at 11:15 AM on Friday.
