DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Justine Burkhardt (St. Augustine, Fla.) is certainly showing she is glad to be back home after transferring from Winthrop University (S.C.) by registering 20 kills and adding 13 digs to help the Flagler College sweep the season series against Embry-Riddle with a 3-1 victory (30-27, 30-23, 27-30, 30-18) Wednesday night in the ICI Center.
The Saints, who are transitioning into NCAA Division II affiliation, improved to 26-14 overall this year and have won five consecutive matches. Flagler earned the victory despite an amazing defensive effort turned in by ERAU's Rachel Ridder as she set the school-record for digs in a match eclipsing former Eagle Senia McIntyre's mark of 35 set on Sept. 9, 1998 against Florida Tech.
Ridder was all over the floor trying to stop Burkhardt's attack as she swung 56 times on the night and she helped to limit the Saints to a .174 team hitting percentage for the match. It was much lower than the .274 percentage the Saints hit in a 3-0 victory in the first meeting this year on Sept. 26th.
In the first game, the Saints took the lead and never relinquished it pushing it to as many as five points midway through the game at 18-13. However, The Eagles came back to narrow the margin to 20-18 on a kill by Jenn Meglic who finished with a team-high 11 for the match.
The teams traded points and Flagler looked as though they would easily close out the match leading 28-25, but Savannah Trakes registered one of her nine kills on the night and then an attack error by the Saints' Katie Beale made it a one-point margin once again 28-27. However, Beale shook off the miscue and fired right back with consecutive kills to close out the game 30-27. Beale finished with 12 kills and added 15 digs.
The second game although neither team got untracked offensively with ERAU struggling hitting -.087 and the Saints .023, but Flagler pulled out the ugly game 30-23.
In the third, Embry-Riddle played their best volleyball of the night hitting .192. The Blue and Gold held a narrow lead throughout, but pushed it to 29-23 late in the game, but Flagler mounted a late charge and nearly tied the game staving off four game points to trim it to 29-27. Liz Moyer helped lead the charge with a pair of kills, but ERAU setter Marissa Gonzales put the game away with a dump kill. Moyer posted four kills and added 20 digs for the Saints, while Gonzales finished with three kills and 38 assists for ERAU.
The final game was close early, but the Saints went on an 11-2 run midway throught the game building a 20-9 advantage. The lead was just too much for the Eagles to chip away at and ended up falling 30-18. FC's Leah Melton finished with 10 kills and hit .450 for the match, while setters Carrie Arnette and Audrey Hippensteel recorded 33 and 20 assists, respectively.
Jenni Nelsen added 10 kills and 15 digs for the Eagles who close out the regular season with a conference weekend against Edward Waters on Friday night at 7 p.m. and then face first-place Savannah College of Art and Design on Saturday at noon.
