ST. PETERSBURG -- The Eckerd Tritons volleyball team is off to its best start in program history following its sixth straight sweep on Saturday, defeating the Bowie State Bulldogs in straight sets to cap off the Triton Invite.
The visitors notched the first two points of the match, but Eckerd answered with the next five to grab the early lead. A back and forth battle ensued, with the Bulldogs battling back to even the game at 11-11. From there, Eckerd put together a 6-1 scoring run to secure its largest lead of the match to that point. Bowie State hung around and eventually got back within one at 21-20, but the Tritons grabbed four of the final five points, highlighted by kills from
Natalie Aniol and
Kaitlyn Dohs to seal the first-set win.
In the second, neither team held a lead of more than two until a 4-0 run from the Tritons broke a 9-9 deadlock. Bowie State again remained within striking distance and tied the game back up at 17 before taking the lead later on at 21-19. The two-point lead remained intact through 23-21, but the Tritons ended the set with four consecutive scores to go up 2-0 in the match. A kill by
Gabi Jedrzejczak fueled the run prior to a joint block by
Kinga Michalska and
Hayden Nash to cap off the 25-23 win. The Tritons erased an early deficit in the third and squeaked out another close victory to earn their sixth straight sweep.
Jaelynn Tunley led the team with 12 kills on the night, while Nash was next with eight. Jedrzejczak finished the contest with 25 assists to propel the offense and
Sydney Williams finished with double-digit digs with 11.
The Tritons improved to 10-1 with the win, the best start for the program through the first 11 matches in a season. The team will begin conference play on Friday with a road contest against Florida Tech.
