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OPA LOCKA, Fla. -- The Embry-Riddle women's volleyball team recorded a sweep of Florida Sun Conference play with its 3-0 (30-14, 30-13, 30-15) victory against Florida Memorial Saturday afternoon in the Robinson Athletic Center.
The one-two punch of Janelle Marinos (Three Rivers, Calif.) and freshman Jenni Nelsen (Titusville, Fla.) led the offensive attack with 15 and 10 kills, respectively.
"I am proud of my team's efforts this weekend, especially since this was a our first real road test of the year" ERAU head coach Joslynn Gallop said. "We are really playing well and enjoying our success and we just need to continue to work hard and it will keep paying off."
The Eagles hit .318 as a team led by Marinos who hit .481 for the match, while adding six service aces, nine digs and three block assists. Nelsen hit .375 and added five digs, one service ace and two block assists.
Defensively, junior Nancy Salb (Boise, Idaho) led the ERAU defense playing between libero and outside hitter with 16 digs and added four kills. Junior middle blocker Mia Jaramillo (Manizales, Colombia) accounted for six (two solos) of the Eagles' 10 blocks and added five kills.
Freshman setter Marissa Gonzales (Littleton, Colo.) recorded 37 assists with five digs and two service aces.
Embry-Riddle opened game one outscoring Florida Memorial 13-4 and expanded its lead to 20-7 cruising to the 30-14 victory. The second game was more of the same as the Eagles opened with a 9-0 run which included two Marinos kills and the quick start proved insurmountable for FMU to overcome. ERAU went onto prevail 30-13.
The Blue and Gold only trailed twice in the entire match both coming early in game three down 1-0 and 2-1. The game remained close with five ties and with a 9-9 deadlock, ERAU went on a 10-4 run to pull ahead 20-13. Sophomore Ashell Curtis (Libby, Mont.) helped spark the run with a service ace and a kill, while Nelsen and Marinos each added kills to support the Eagle surge.
FMU cut the deficit to five points at 20-15, but Embry-Riddle closed out the match with a 10-0 run to win 30-15. Nelsen and Jaramillo recorded two kills apiece and Marinos posted three services aces in the run.
Embry-Riddle returns to action on Wednesday Sept. 21 when they travel to Edward Waters (Fla.) in Jacksonville at 6 p.m. and then participate in the Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish Classic Sept. 23-24.
