ASHLAND, Ore. – The Embry-Riddle women's volleyball team showed that they are a force to be reckoned with in 2010 as the Eagles took defending national champion and top-ranked Fresno Pacific to five sets before falling 3-2 (25-20, 21-25, 25-18, 26-28, 15-13) at the Paul Elliot Invitational on Friday. The contest was only the second five-set match in the last 12 contests for the Sunbirds who improve to 3-0 on the year. The Eagles leave Oregon with a 3-1 record and will play their next match in the friendly confines of the ICI Center against Wayland Baptist on Sept. 2.

For the third time in four matches, Abby Hall turned in a 21-kill performance and the junior recorded her third double-double on the year with 12 digs. Jordan Holcomb totaled 17 kills, nine digs, two service aces and four total blocks, while Taylor Martin registered a double-double of her own with 14 kills and 10 digs.

Any notion that the top-ranked Sunbirds would have it easy against the unranked Eagles was quickly dispelled when the Eagles matched their opponent tally for tally resulting in a 14-14 tie in the first set. FPU managed to build a slight lead, 21-17, but the Eagles came back to make it a one-point game at 21-20. The Sunbirds, behind three kills from Keke Wang, were able to score four straight to take the first set 25-20.

Both teams were engaged in a see-saw battle through much of the second stanza. Hall found success on one of her 20 swings in that set to tie the score at 17-17 and that effort sparked a 3-0 run that gave the Blue and Gold a 20-17 advantage. The Sunbirds made it a two-point game on a kill by Lisa Shilling, but back-to-back kills by Hall and Holcomb and a ball handling error by Shilling gave the Eagles the three points they needed win the set and tie the match score at 1-1.

The Sunbirds outhit the Eagles .344 to .152 to win the third set 25-18 and seemed on the way taking the match when they went up 15-11 in the fourth. Kills by Hall and Martin pulled ERAU to within two (16-14), but FPU maintained a two-point cushion until another kill by Hall and a hitting error by Shilling tied the score a 21-21, prompting FPU head coach Dennis Janzen to call a timeout. Coming out of the timeout, the Sunbirds got the point they were looking for, but Martin answered right back to tie the score at 26-26. FPU was unable to convert on their next swing and Martin registered yet another kill to help the Eagles to the 28-26 fourth-set win and force a deciding fifth set.

Fresno Pacific took advantage of consecutive Eagle hitting errors to tak a 3-0 lead, but once again the Blue and Gold, led by three kills from Holcomb, fought back to lock things up at 7-7. With the score at 14-12 in favor of the Sunbirds, ERAU staved off set point on another kill by Martin to make it a one-point game, but on the next Eagle serve FPU got the point they needed to pull out the win and avoid the upset.