St. Petersburg, Fla. – The Lynn University volleyball team's offense was dealing from the get-go on Friday night, but the Fighting Knights were unable to close out games in critical situations as host Eckerd College took the Sunshine State Conference matchup in five sets.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: Eckerd 3, Lynn 2 (15-25, 25-23, 26-24, 28-30, 15-11)
Records: Lynn (8-4, 2-2 SSC), Eckerd (10-4, 4-1 SSC)
Location: McArthur Center | St. Petersburg, Fla.
All-time Series: Eckerd leads 22-17
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• Set 1 | The Fighting Knights stormed out to a 14-5 advantage and completely controlled the opening frame. Lynn hit .406 as a team, led by Nicol Colonna's 6-for-7 effort on the attack and Marissa Tandron's 14 assists.
• Set 2 | Set two started off promising again as Lynn led early, 7-3, but the Tritons went on a run of their own to knot it up at 8-8. The sides went back and forth until Claire Angelich posted a solo block for a 23-23 draw. Eckerd put down two kills coming out of the timeout to even up the match. The Fighting Knights had another strong hitting performance (.355), but Eckerd logged a .423.
• Set 3 | Neither team led by more than four points throughout the third. Lynn was in the driver's seat to take a 2-1 lead in the match with set point (24-21), but Eckerd fired off five straight points to steal the stanza from the Blue and White. Lydia West tallied five kills and three blocks.
• Set 4 | The fourth set was a total marathon battle featuring 12 tie scores and six lead changes. The Fighting Knights persevered however, fending off four Eckerd set-points to secure the period in extras, 30-28. Cleuza Porto bounced nine kills with the help of 21 Tandron helpers and Katie Knight picked up seven digs.
• Set 5 | A 5-1 run to start the final game gave the home side enough momentum to close out the win. The Fighting Knights fought back to an 11-9 deficit but couldn't catch the Tritons as they received seven kills from Kali Boatwright.

• Tandron was the guiding hand behind Lynn's impressive offensive performance, dishing out a career-high 65 assists. She chipped in nine digs, two blocks, two aces and a pair of kills.
• Porto notched a career-high of her own as the senior bounced a match-high 24 kills at an effective clip (.324). She added eight digs and two aces.
• West had a strong showing on both sides of the ball, recording 18 kills (.324) and a team-high four blocks (two solo).
• Cristina Llorens rounded out the Fighting Knights in double-digit kills (14) and completed the double-double with 15 digs. Knight led the squad with 19 digs.

• With 56 solo blocks throughout her career, Angelich is now tied for the all-time school record. 
• Tandron's 65 assists is tied for the fourth most in a match in school history and is the most in the past 11 years.
• Eckerd defended its home court vs. Lynn for the first time since 2013.
• Lynn produced season-highs in kills (77) and assists (69), while matching its personal-best with four solo blocks. The team's 77 kills is its most in a match since 2008.

UP NEXT:
The Fighting Knights close out the weekend road trip tomorrow, Saturday, Oct. 1 at 21^st-ranked Florida Southern. First serve is slated for 4 p.m.