ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Kentucky Wesleyan College volleyball team opened its season with a 3-0 loss to St. Edwards University on Friday in the opening session of the Eckerd Volleyball Classic. The Panthers fell 3-0 in the nightcap to host Eckerd. 
 
The Panthers (0-1) smoothly transition to the start of the match taking a 14-11 lead after Audrey Baysinger's third kill of the set. The Hilltoppers (2-0) rallied and won eight of the next nine points, including five straight before Baysinger stopped the run. Julia Moran followed with another kill to bring Kentucky Wesleyan to 19-17.
 
Back-to-back kills by Nilah Roy later in the frame gave the Panthers a 24-23 lead. St Ed's pulled to match point after taking the next two contested points, but a service error tied the opener at 25. An attack error by the Panthers followed by a kill by Kate Hendrix allowed the HIlltoppers to take a 1-0 after a 27-25 win.
 
The Hilltoppers held a .417 attacking percentage in the second stanza as they extended the lead to 2-0 after a 25-14 win. St. Edwards remained hot in the third set, hitting .343 to top the Panthers 25-18. Kentucky Wesleyan finished with a .138 attacking percentage while Baysinger led the team with eight kills. Courtney Gildea dished out 22 assists.

Roy produced 10 kills in the evening match against Eckerd. The Tritons led the opening frame 15-11 when the offense started to click. Eckerd won 10 of the last 13 points to race out to an early 1-0 lead. The attacked continued to come in the second set as the Tritons won the frame 25-16. 

The Panthers erased a 10-6 deficit in the third set to tie the Tritons at 18. However, miscues at the end allowed Eckerd to preserve the shutout. The Tritons' attacking percentage hovered around .200 for the match as they finished at .198. Gildea added 10 more assists in the evening match while Nicole Venema defensively recorded 15 digs. 
 
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