ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – After taking
capturing the first two sets, Rollins was unable to sustain its
early success as the Eckerd Tritons claimed a 3-2 (23-25, 21-25,
25-22, 25-22, 15-7) victory, Saturday evening in Sunshine State
Conference action at the McArthur Center.
Senior outside hitter Stephanie
Nichols paced the Tars with a match-high 21 kills with a .347
attacking percentage. Junior outside hitter Nikki
Hartman followed with 14 kills, while sophomore right side
hitter Caitlin
Vyborny rounded out the hitters with double-digit performances
as she smashed 11.
Four players reached double-digits in digs led by Hartman's 19,
while Nichols had a second-straight double-double performance with
16. Rollins single-season leader, Phoebe
Corder tallied 15 digs, while Karin
Barborikova finished with 11.
The Tritons were led by Regi Silva's team-best 20 kills and a
team hitting percentage of .300, culminated by a .450, nine
kill-effort in the fifth frame.
The Tars were hitting on all cylinders in the first two sets as
it quickly took a 2-0 lead in the match, hitting over .350 in both
stanzas.
In the first set, Rollins found itself in a three-point deficit,
but managed to exchange points with the Tritons until securing an
11-10 lead after scoring four-straight points that included a pair
of aces from Corder and a Hartman kill.
The Tars maintained a three-point lead for most of the match,
but Eckerd tied the match at 20 after a service error. It was
back-and-forth until the teams were tied at 23 and Rollins
responded with back-to-back blocks, the first from Lora
Lieb and Vyborny, which preceded a solo block from Lieb to end
the set.
In the second set, the Tritons again took the early lead, but
Rollins battled to tie the match at 10 and capitalized on an
attacking error. The Tars extended its lead to four at 15-11 from
a Vyborny kill and for a second-straight set, the teams would
remain close down the stretch.
Tied at 18, Rollins made a run scoring the next two points from
a Lieb kill and a Corder ace. A time out from Eckerd showed
immediate results as it scored on the next play. Rollins
responded, scoring two more points to take a 22-19 lead.
Eckerd scored the next two points from a pair of kills, but
Rollins scored the final three points from two errors by Eckerd and
a kill from Jenny
Sherwood.
After the intermission, the Tritons mounted its comeback hitting
.368 in the third stanza. Six kills from Keisha Carter and five
from Lydee Benoit and Silva guided Eckerd in the frame.
In the fourth set, the teams were tied at 20, 21 and 22, before
Eckerd scored the final three points in the frame to close out the
victory.
In the fifth set, Rollins was limited to a .098 hitting
percentage as the Tritons did not hit a single error in the final
frame.
Defensively for the Tars, Lieb finished with six blocks, while
Sherwood, who made her first start since being injured, added four
blocks.
Rollins returns to Warden Arena, Wednesday, Nov. 12 at 7 p.m.
for a Sunshine State Conference match against Florida Tech.
