Oct. 21, 2007
PENSACOLA, Fla. - Despite a stellar night from Luciana Rapach (Jr. / Brazil), who turned in 13 kills, 15 assists, and 22 digs, the Argos came up just short against the Tritons from Eckerd College. The five game match won by Eckerd 30-21, 22-30, 30-23, 21-30, 17-15, came down to several crucial points at the end of the match, and the Tritons scored when they needed to. Kimberly Clark (Jr. / St. Petersburg, Fla.) and Danielle Spitzer (Sr. / Birmingham, Ala.) turned up the offense in games four and five, but it just wasn't enough to overcome the Tritons consistent attack. Eckerd improved to 19-7 on the season, while the Argos dropped to 25-4 on the year.
Eckerd cruised through game one with the lead the entire game, as the Argos started the match with four attack errors in the first eight points. Eckerd finished game one with 15 kills and only two errors, led by Lydee Benoit with 5 kills. The Argos recorded nine attack errors, with the lone bright spot being 6 kills and only one error from Rapach. Game two was a near reversal of game one, with UWF recording 16 kills and only four errors, while the Tritons had 11 attack errors. Isabela Gualberto (Sr. / Brazil) had seven of her 14 kills in game two.
The momentum was back on the Tritons side for game three, with Keisha Carter getting hot for Eckerd, as she recorded four kills and three blocks. The Argos, meanwhile, turned in 11 attack errors and four service errors, and couldn't get anything going offensively. However, the tables turned again in game four, as the Tritons turned in 10 errors, while the Argos had twice as many kills. Spitzer had four kills in the game, while Chelsea Wilhoite (Fr. / Jacksonville, Fla.) and Kara Gonzalez (Fr. / St. Augustine, Fla.) combined for three consecutive kills to put the Argos up 22-15. Rapach then added two kills in the last four points to help put the game away, and set up the decisive game five.
The fifth game started with two very long rallies that set the tone for an intense battle to the end. The teams split the first two points, and then Clark stepped up for the Argos, while Angela White was hot for Eckerd. The two big hitters each had four kills in the decisive fifth game. Clark put down a kill to end an exciting rally to tie the game at 12-12. White answered with a kill to put the Tritons up 13-12. The Argos scored the next two points on a Clark kill and a Triton error to reach match point at 14-13. However, White answered for Eckerd with a kill, and then after trading points, the Tritons scored two straight points on a kill from Carter and an Argo error to end the match.
Madeline Gonzalez (Jr. / Puerto Rico) helped set up the Argos offense with 45 assists and nine digs. Clark and Jerica Carter (Jr. / Gainesville, Fla.) had 16 and 15 digs respectively for UWF. Meanwhile, Kristy Busse recorded 22 digs for Eckerd, and Shannon Ruby added 45 assists for the Tritons. White led the Tritons with 15 kills, while Gualberto led the Argos, also with 15 kills. The next match for UWF is on the road at Gulf South Conference opponent North Alabama on Friday night at 7:00 pm. The Argos are 8-0 in the conference, while the Lions from North Alabama are 7-2 in the conference.
