DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. ? Another win was tallied on the Embry-Riddle Eagles volleyball (12-1, 3-1 conf.) record on Saturday as the team took three sets from the St. Thomas Bobcats (3-10, 2-2 conf.) in the afternoon match (25-16, 25-17, 25-22).
Both teams got off to a slow start in the first set as the ball went behind both service lines multiple times before the Eagles took control of the game.
Jenni Nelsen served back-to-back aces putting the Eagles ahead by two at 6-4 that gave the Eagles the push to increase the lead and take set one, 25-16.
The pace of play was increased in the second set, as long volleys put the Eagles on offense and defense more rapidly than in the first set. The Bobcats were able to produce more offense hitting over 100 points better in the second set verses the first (.029 to .143), but were not able to harness the Eagles arm power as ERAU completed 14 of their 30 attack attempts. The Eagles hit .300 in their second set win.
The Bobcats took a huge lead in the third set, going up 12-4 before head coach
Joslynn Gallop took a time out to regroup her team. STU kept their lead until
Alana Martinez stepped behind the service line, with the Eagles down 9-14. The Bobcats had three attack errors in a row and
Abby Hall capitalized on a jump set from
Marissa Gonzales to put the Eagles back within one. Another Bobcat error and a kill by
Corey Dobridnia put the Eagles back in the lead.
STU came back to tie the game at 17 but kills by Nelsen and Martinez put the Eagles up by two. That was then followed by back-to-back service aces by Hall that put the Eagles up by four and put the momentum in the Eagles direction leading to the win.
Hall and Martinez teamed up as the attack leaders in the match, each with 10 kills. Dobridnia had 6 kills as well as picking up a solo block and two block assists. Gonzales had 34 assist in the match as well as digging ten attacks from the Bobcats.
The Blue and Gold will continue their homestand on Friday, Sept. 26 as they will host Southeastern at 7 p.m. in the ICI Center.
