BOX SCORE

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern women’s volleyball team (2-8, 0-2) visited Eckerd College (9-1, 2-0) Saturday afternoon for a Sunshine State Conference matchup. Despite a strong effort from the Sharks, the Tritons came away with a 3-0 win.

The set opened with the teams knotted, 5-5, as Anabely Escarpita (Sr., Boca Raton, Fla.) and Destiny Bannister (Fr., Homestead, Fla.) tallied scores for the Sharks. The Tritons then reeled off the next five points to force a NSU timeout. The stop in play was unable to turn the momentum as Eckerd tallied another five straight points, including three service aces.

Kristina Eric(So., Bosnia) looked to ignite a Sharks comeback with a service ace that closed the gap to 17-8, but the Tritons continued its offensive attack, opening a 12-point advantage, 22-10. The Sharks got within 10 at 22-12, following an Eckerd attack error and an Escarpita block out of NSU’s second timeout of the set. The scoring struggles continued for the Sharks though, as Eckerd would win the first, 25-14, on an Alex Laton service ace.

The Tritons continued their offensive onslaught opening a 7-1 lead to begin the second set. Eric would keep the Eckerd lead at six, 10-4, with her first kill of the set. Bannister got the Sharks into double-figures with her second kill of the match. The Tritons attackers refused to cool off though, easing through the remainder of the set and securing a 25-12 win to go up two sets on the Sharks.

The Sharks found some offensive rhythm early in the third set, trailing by only one, 9-8, following another Bannister kill. NSU continued to battle falling behind by only two, 13-11, midway through the match as Lauren Lewkowicz notched a kill for the Sharks. Although the Sharks continued to battle throughout the set, the Tritons managed to pull away late and take the third 25-20, and the match 3-0. 

Danielle Graham (Jr., Cincinnati, Ohio) was quiet offensively, but did record two solo blocks for the Sharks. Escarpita also registered two solo blocks and assisted on another, while leading the Sharks attack with five kills. Ali McAlvany tallied a match-high 12 kills with a hitting percentage of .625 for the Tritons.

For the match results, be sure to check www.NSUSharks.com or sign up to have results sent directly to your cell phone by signing up for SMS text messages by clicking here. For the weekly NSU Shark Athletic news, please sign up for the Shark Alert E-Newsletter by clicking here.