Volleyball falls to No. 1 Tampa in four sets

ST. PETERSBURG -- The Eckerd Tritons volleyball team dropped a hard-fought contest to the No. 1 ranked Tampa Spartans on Saturday in four sets.

Eckerd started out strong with seven of the match's first eight points, seeing kills from three different players across that span. The Tritons later moved their advantage out to as many as eight with a score of 17-9 and were the first team to 20 at a score of 20-14. Tampa began to inch closer and got within four at 23-19 before pulling within three at 24-21. The Spartans fended of three set points with the final five points scored to steal the opener by a score of 26-24. Tampa then made it a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-17 win in the second. 

A back-and-forth third set ensued, with neither team holding a lead of more than two points until Eckerd forced a Tampa timeout at 13-10. The visitors quickly evened the score back up with a 3-0 run out of the break and the two teams continued to exchange rally wins up through a 19-19 deadlock. The Tritons broke the tie on a kill from Jaelynn Tunley and took a two-point lead following an error by the Spartans. Tampa answered with a 5-2 scoring run to set up match point at 24-23, but a Kaitlyn Dohs kill extended the frame, with the Tritons eventually staying alive in the match with a 28-26 victory. Consecutive kills from Kinga Michalska gave Eckerd its final two points. The Spartans sealed the match with a 25-12 decision in the fourth. 

Four Tritons reached double figures in kills, with Dohs leading the way with 15 kills and also a team-high 19 digs. Michalska was next with 14 kills and 17 digs, and Tunley and Walker finished with 13 and 10 kills, respectively. Gabi Jedrzejczak contributed over 11 assists per game and finished with 45 for the match. 

Eckerd falls to 15-11 with the loss. The team will be back in action Tuesday to host Rollins.