MELBOURNE, Fla. -- The Eckerd Tritons volleyball team won its seventh match in a row on Friday, defeating the Florida Tech Panthers in five sets in each team's Sunshine State Conference opener.
Eckerd had the upper hand early in the opening frame, jumping out to a lead as big as five at 12-7 following a 4-1 scoring spurt. The Tritons never lost the lead the rest of the way, but endured several comeback efforts from the home team, with the latest coming at an 18-18 tie. From there, a
Kinga Michalska kill halted the momentum and back-to-back service aces by
Elayna Rickmon capped off a 5-0 surge for the Tritons. A block from Michalska moments later wrapped up the 25-19 win for Eckerd to give the team an early 1-0 lead in the match. Florida Tech returned the favor with a 25-20 triumph in the second to pull even at one win apiece.
The Tritons earned the first three points of the third set off the serve of Michalska, but quickly lost the lead after the Panthers strung together a 7-1 run to take an 8-6 advantage. The two teams exchanged leads throughout the remainder of the set, but Eckerd broke free from the final deadlock at 16-16 with two straight points via
Jaelynn Tunley service aces. Keeping the two-point lead intact at 20-18, the Tritons notched four straight rally wins to set up game point, eventually earning the 25-21 victory after a kill by Michalska. The Panthers collected their second five-point win of the match in the ensuing set to force a fifth and final frame.
A kill by Michalska started off the fifth and an attack error by Florida Tech quickly gave Eckerd a two-point cushion. The Panthers battled back and took a slight lead at 4-3, but a pair of kills and an error from the home team contributed to a mini 3-0 scoring run for the Tritons to regain the two-point lead. The 3-0 surge was quickly answered by the Panthers with one of their own and Florida Tech took an 8-7 advantage into the switch. The Tritons responded with seven of the next eight points scored and converted their second shot at match point with a kill by Tunley.
Avry Nelson added a kill and a block during the 7-1 run, while
Kaitlyn Dohs added a service ace.
Michalska led the team with 22 kills and an attack percentage of .310. Five different Tritons contributed double-digit digs, led by
Sydney Williams' season-high 25.
With the win, Eckerd improves to 11-1 on the season and 1-0 in SSC play. The team will be back in action tomorrow for a road contest at Embry-Riddle.
