ST. PETERSBURG, Fla - The West Liberty University volleyball team battled against Eckerd College in the nightcap of day one at the Eckerd College Invitational. The Tritons swept the Hilltoppers, 25-9, 25-18, and 25-13, dropping them to 0-2 on the young season.

Eckerd stormed out of the gates to a 6-0 lead and never looked back to win the opening set.

Set two started off with two consecutive Hilltopper points before the Tritons scored six of the next seven points to take control. West Liberty put together a string of six points over eight rallies to narrow its deficit to four, 20-16, but could not get any closer. Eckerd charted five of the next seven points to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the match and then rolled to a straight-set victory on its home court the following set.

Riley Cudnik paced the Hilltopper attack with a .429 hitting percentage and seven kills.

The Triton attackers posted an impressive .444 hitting percentage, while WLU hit .089 in the match.

West Liberty will wrap up its Florida trip tomorrow with matches at 12 noon and 5 pm.

Follow the Hilltoppers all season online at HilltopperSports.com as well as on Twitter (@WLU_Volleyball | @WLathletics), Instagram (@wlu_volleyball | @wlu_athletics), and Facebook.