Credit:@saintleovb
Things didn’t look good for the Lions following a long and intense third set in the Bowman Center, which ended in a 29-27 victory for the Eckerd College Tritons. Coming out of the intermission and trailing two sets to one, put the home team in a tight spot. There was already a feeling of defeat wafting throughout the gym. The Lions needed a spark to get them back on track, and they found it in the right arm of outside hitter Britt Sederholm, one of the team’s senior leaders.
Relentless in her approaches to the net, Sederholm played all five sets and finished the match with 20 kills, 43 percent more than the player with the next most kills, on either team. With Sederholm and middle blocker Dallas Jasper combining for five kills in the crucial fourth match, the Lions built an enormous wave of momentum to carry themselves to a decisive 25-18 victory and into the final, tie-breaking set. The match was history from that point on, with Saint Leo coasting to a 15-8 fifth set victory as the Tritons buckled under the pressure of the Lions’ comeback.
Saint Leo setter Anna Garrett was near flawless throughout the game, committing just two setting errors, and finishing with almost as many assists as the entire team of Tritons, completing 51 over the course of the five-set battle. Middle blocker Dallas Jasper fired 14 kills on just 27 attempts and five errors. Sederholm, along with fellow senior Jenya Kruglova and sophomore Annabella Arcari, led the Lions’ defensive front. Sederholm and Kruglova completed 32 and 20 digs, respectively, and Arcari led both teams with two solo blocks and four block assists. Sederholm and Garrett both finished with double-doubles.
The Lions’ triumph pushes their record to 19-5 overall and 13-3 in the Sunshine State Conference. This is the team’s seventh straight win, with most of those wins coming in under five sets. Their next bout is Thursday night’s away match against Lynn University’s Fighting Knights, another conference match. Playing on the road is something that doesn’t phase the Lions, who are 8-1 this season when playing in the opponent’s gym. One can only hope the senior leadership and recent boost in momentum can carry the Lions to their 8th straight win before taking on the very tough Florida Southern Mocs. The Mocs, who are 14-1 in conference matches, defeated Saint Leo in five sets in their last meeting
