GULFPORT, Fla. - After dropping the opening match of the day to Palm Beach Atlantic, 4-1, the Eckerd beach volleyball team rallied to top Florida Southern, 4-1, at the Gulfport Beach Volleyball Courts on senior day on Saturday.
Eckerd (3-8) took the No. 2 slot in the opening match, but PBA (11-11) took the remaining positions for the 4-1 victory.
Kitana Lim and Joelle Coulter took the opening set 21-14 before narrowly dropping the second 23-21, but the tandem took the third set in extra points 19-17.
Addie White and Anna Jupin nearly gave EC a victory in the No. 3 slot. The tandem took the opening set 21-14 before dropping the next two 21-13 and 15-10.
The Sailfish took positions No. 1, 4, and 5 in straight sets.
Eckerd breezed in the second match against the Moccasins (6-13) for a 4-1 victory.
Lim and Coulter picked up their second win of the day and gave Eckerd its first point with a 21-16, 21-17 straight-sets victory in the No. 2 slot.
Nicki Bechtold and Martina Melicherova paired in the No. 4 slot for another straight-sets win for the Tritons 21-10, 21-17.
Mariana Olivares-Cely and Sophia Romigh in the No. 5 draw partner for a three-set win. They dropped the opening set 21-14 but rallied to take set two handedly, 21-8, before taking set three, 15-6.
Dana Dull and Agata Sklepik also took a three-set victory in the top flight. They breezed in the opening set, 21-10, before falling 21-11. The tandem bounced back for an 18-16 win in the third.
Eckerd honored its six seniors - Bechtold, Lim, Coulter, Dull, Sklepik, and Romig - prior to the second match.
Eckerd returns to action on Friday in Jacksonville against Saint Johns River College in an exhibition at 10:00 AM and Saint Leo at 2:00 PM.
Palm Beach Atlantic 4, Eckerd 1
1. Lunden Evans/Mya Krystosek (PBABVB) def.
Agata Sklepik/
Dana Dull (ECBVB23) 21-9, 21-17
2.
Kitana Lim/
Joelle Coulter (ECBVB23) def. Ashleigh Holweger/Rebekah Machovec (PBABVB) 21-14, 21-23, 19-17
3. Gabriella Aziz/Savannah DeCarlo (PBABVB) def.
Addie White/
Anna Jupin (ECBVB23) 14-21, 21-13, 15-10
4. Julia Golichowski/Natalie Skopalova (PBABVB) def.
Nicki Bechtold/Mariana OlivaresCely (ECBVB23) 21-9, 21-11
5. Karla Cantero/Abigail Mason (PBABVB) def.
Martina Melicherova/
Teagan VanderMey (ECBVB23) 21-15, 21-10
Ext. Marilyn Cesaro/Sydney Wagner (PBABVB) def.
Grace Badlam/
Madison Hardbarger (ECBVB23) 21-11, 21-11
Eckerd 4, Florida Southern 1
1.
Dana Dull/
Agata Sklepik (ECBVB23) def. Olivia D'Agostino/Emma Shaddix (FSC) 21-10, 11-21, 18-16
2.
Kitana Lim/
Joelle Coulter (ECBVB23) def. Piper Cowman/Destiny Ramsey (FSC) 21-16, 21-17
3. Ashil Mckenny/Sarah Crocker (FSC) def.
Anna Jupin/
Addie White (ECBVB23) 21-15, 21-11
4.
Nicki Bechtold/
Martina Melicherova (ECBVB23) def. Christina Ramazio/Hayley St. Martin (FSC) 21-10, 21-17
5. Mariana OlivaresCely/
Sophia Romigh (ECBVB23) def. Chloe Maxwell/Madeline Sanders (FSC) 14-21, 21-8, 15-6
Ext.
Grace Badlam/
Madison Hardbarger (ECBVB23) def. Sophia Rakauskas/Emma Hufford (FSC) 21-12, 21-9
