SAINT LEO, Fla. – The Saint Leo volleyball team took down Sunshine State Conference foe Eckerd College, 3-1; 25-21, 18-25, 26-24, 25-23, in a downright gritty battle on Tuesday evening in the Marion Bowman Activities Center.

The Lions opened with an efficient first set, putting down 13 kills on .211 hitting, adding a 68-percent hitting percentage. They kept the Tritons to a .073 hitting percentage and added five team blocks in the process. Jamee Townsend helped keep Eckerd from putting down kills by tallying an impressive 14 digs in the first set alone. Victoria Omoregie put down five kills, and added three blocks, including a solo, while Hope lemon added four kills.

However, the roles reversed and the Lions were held to a .000 hitting percentage, only putting down eight kills, while Eckerd tallied 10 kills on a .231 hitting percentage. Katie Arnette put down five kills for the Tritons in the set, while JaQuayla Baker tallied three blocks including a solo.

Over the final two sets, the two teams played very even.

In the third set, the Lions put down 13 kills on .064, while EC tallied 11 kills on -.023. The Tritons out-blocked Saint Leo, 5.5 to 3.0, and out-dug the Lions, 20-17, but their errors were too much to overcome as Saint Leo took a 2-1 lead with a 26-24 win.

In the final set, both offenses picked it up. Saint Leo put down 15 kills and only committed three hitting errors for a .308 team hitting percentage. Eckerd also put down 15 kills on a .289 team percentage. Lemon led the way for with six kills in the final set to help guide the offense to a win.

Lemon finished the match with a game-high 15 kills on a .282 clip. She added five digs, two blocks, and an ace. Omoregie tallied her third consecutive double-digit performance, putting down 11 kills, adding a team-high four blocks and three digs. Britt Sederholm neared a double-double as she put down nine kills and scooped up 16 digs.

Defensively, Townsend led the way with 23 digs. Annabella Arcari and Katie Adamson each added three blocks.

Setter Maddy Powell dished out 37 assists, adding nine digs, four kills and two blocks for the match.

The Lions are now 17-8, 9-2 SSC, and return to action on Thursday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. to take on Florida Tech for Senior Night as the Lions honor Townsend, Lemon, Adamson and Hannah Pietz.

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