DELAND, Fla. - The Eckerd beach volleyball team opened the 2018 season facing a pair of nationally-ranked opponents on Friday, and nearly pulled off an upset in their second match of the Stetson Spring Fling.

The Tritons fell, 5-0, to No. 15 Stetson in the first match of the day before taking No. 16 Florida Atlantic to the limit before losing, 3-2.

Against Florida Atlantic, Eckerd (0-2) got wins from Madison Whiting and Arielle Erillo as the No. 2 pair and Kaitlyn Sibson and Paula Hoffmann as the No. 3 pair.

Both pairs took only two sets to dispatch of their FAU opponents.  Sibson and Hoffmann did so in rather dominant fashion, winning 21-13 and 21-18.  Whiting and Erillo were impressive as well with a 21-16 and 21-18 win.

The pivotal match turned out to be the No. 5's.  Kali Boatwright and Jordan Duffy bounced back from a 21-7 loss in the first set to even the match with a 21-14 win in the second. However, FAU's Ashlan Cunningham and Kaila Dorish outlasted Boatwright and Duffy in the decisive set, 15-10.

In the day's first match, the 15th-ranked Hatters won every set on the way to a sweep though Eckerd got strong performances from the pairs of Hoffmann/Sibson and Erillo/Whiting.

The Tritons wrap up play at the tournament tomorrow, taking on Georgia State.

#15 STETSON 5, ECKERD 0
1. Carly Perales/S. Helland-Hansen (STET) def. Mackenzie Redner/Savanna Cary (EC) 21-12, 21-15
2. Darby Dunn/Sammee Thomas (STET) def. Paula Hoffmann/Kaitlyn Sibson (EC) 21-18, 21-16
3. Rebecca Ingram/Quinci Birker (STET) def. Madison Whiting/Arielle Erillo (EC) 21-17, 21-17
4. Rachel Noble/Samantha Harria (STET) def. Rachel Cornatzer/Stephanie Bogda (EC) 21-10, 21-8
5. Alexa Richardson/Katinka Krahn (STET) def. Kali Boatwright/Jordan Duffy (EC) 21-9, 21-10
Ext. Julie Varga/Lauren Durham (STET) def. Fernanda Reis/Samantha Bevilacqua (EC) 21-14, 21-8 

#16 FLORIDA ATLANTIC 3, ECKERD 2
1. Gabrielle Dischler/Jessalyn Kinlaw (FAU) def. Savanna Cary/Mackenzie Redner (EC) 21-17, 21-15
2. Madison Whiting/Arielle Erillo (EC) def. Carly Scarborough/Brittany Pellitteri (FAU) 21-16, 21-18
3. Paula Hoffmann/Kaitlyn Sibson (EC) def. Nicole Grant/Nicole Navarro (FAU) 21-13, 21-18
4. Mackenzie Morris/Erica Brok (FAU) def. Rachel Cornatzer/Stephanie Bogda (EC) 21-6, 21-10
5. Ashlan Cunningham/Kaila Dorish (FAU) def. Kali Boatwright/Jordan Duffy (EC) 21-7, 14-21, 15-10