ST. PETERSBURG -- The Eckerd Tritons volleyball team picked up a pair of sweeps on Friday to begin the 2025 Triton Invite, defeating both the Edward Waters Tigers and Indianapolis Greyhounds in straight sets.
It was all Tritons in the opening set vs. the Tigers, running out to an 11-1 advantage that saw three kills apiece from
Jaelynn Tunley and
Seiler Hruska during that span. Edward Waters got the differential under double figures just twice the rest of the way, with Eckerd building a lead of as many 15 points at 19-4. A service ace by
Sydney Williams put the exclamation point on a 25-11 win to begin the match.
Set two was the closest game of the three played, but also served as the best offensive performance of the contest for the Tritons after hitting .500 throughout. Eckerd jumped out to an 8-3 before doubling up its opponent at 14-7, seeing kills by three different players over that time frame. The Tigers inched within four later in the set at 18-14, but a 7-1 scoring surge by the Tritons closed out the frame with a double-digit win. Eckerd collected 11 of the first 14 points scored in the third on its way to a 25-12 match-clinching victory.
Kinga Michalska hit .429 in the win, putting down 11 kills on 21 swings.
Grace Dumont fueled the offensive attack with 27 assists, while Williams added 10 digs. As a team, the Tritons had nine service aces, three coming from both Michalska and Dumont each.
The Tritons closed the night against the Indianapolis Greyhounds, who are receiving votes in the latest AVCA Division II poll. The visitors began the match with early momentum, holding several three-point leads, with the latest coming at 8-6. From there, the Tritons notched the next three points and the two teams went back and forth until Eckerd broke a 13-13 tie with six of the next seven points scored. The Greyhounds never got the differential under four and a kill by
Hayden Nash later closed out the seven-point win.
Eckerd saw a fast start in the second with a 9-3 lead out of the gate. After Indy got within four, the Tritons later rattled off a 6-0 run that featured five kills during the outburst and moved the advantage out to double figures. The lead reached as high as 12 before ending the set with that margin after a block by Tunley put the team up 2-0 in the match. The Tritons coasted to another win the third, starting out with 15-5 lead before taking it by 14 points.
Eckerd held Indy to just .087 hitting in the win and featured a strong defensive presence that boasted 14 blocks and a plus-eight margin in digs.
Peyton Walker led the way with two solo blocks and three assisted, while Williams was the team lead with 11 digs. Offensively, Michalska had a match-high 14 kills.
With the win, the Tritons improve to 9-1 on the seaosn, their best start since 2022. The team will be back in action tomorrow night vs. Bowie State.
