SAVANNAH, Ga. – Led by 24 kills from Abby Hall, the fifth-ranked Embry-Riddle volleyball team closed out the SCAD Invitational with a pair of sweeps on Saturday at the Savannah Country Day School gymnasium. The Eagles easily handled No. 11 Taylor, 25-17, 25-19, 25-19, before downing Union (Tenn.), 25-22, 25-18, 25-15.

Playing at 9 a.m., just over 12 hours after a 3-0 loss to No. 4 Lee (Tenn.), Embry-Riddle (19-4) got off to a slow start against the 11th-ranked Trojans (19-5), trading side outs through the first 10 points. The Blue and Gold kicked in to gear at 5-5, running off 11 of the next 13 points to take a commanding 16-7 lead. Taylor fought back with a quick 3-0 run later in the set to get within five points (21-16), but the Eagles responded by winning four of the next five points to win the set, 25-17.

The Eagles again played the Trojans tight in the opening stages of the second set, holding a slim 5-4 lead nine points in. A 12-5 run for ERAU sparked by a kill from Gloria Kemp provided an eight-point cushion (17-9) for Embry-Riddle. Taylor was able to chip away at the deficit, trimming it to as little as four points, but they couldn't get any closer, and Nina Kontrec served an ace to finish the set, 25-19.

The third set saw the Trojans hang with the Eagles a little longer, trailing by just two points at 11-9. A kill from Kemp extended the margin to five (17-12) and a block from Hall and Morgan Shattuck pushed it to six points (21-15), the largest lead of the set. Taylor won the next four points to close it to 21-19, but ERAU rallied with a 4-0 run of their own, capped by a pair of Shattuck kills, taking the set, 25-19, and finishing the match, 3-0.

Hall recorded a match-high 14 kills to go along with seven digs and three service aces. The ERAU middle blockers played extremely well, as Shattuck tallied 11 kills (.500 hitting percentage) and a match-high five blocks and Kemp totaled eight kills on just 12 swings (.667 hitting percentage). Taylor Martin chipped in with six kills, nine digs and a match-high four service aces. Kontrec picked up a match-high 17 digs and Adriana Vazquez collected a match-high 40 assists as ERAU hit .313 as a team.

Kelsey Pritchard led the Trojans (19-5) with 13 kills and Bethany Beck added nine kills (.500 hitting percentage). Courtney Herschberger registered a team-high 11 digs and Kelsey Carr tallied 32 assists in her first-career start at setter.

In the afternoon match, ERAU used an early 6-0 run to take a 9-4 lead. The Bulldogs (10-16) proved to be resilient, climbing all the way back to take a 20-19 lead. After an Embry-Riddle timeout, the Eagles got a kill from Holcomb to tie things up at 20. Two points later, Hall picked up another service ace to put the Blue and Gold ahead, 22-20. After a pair of side out exchanges, Holcomb closed out the set at 25-22 with a kill.

Embry-Riddle got off to another strong start in the second set, using a 6-0 run keyed by four Union attack errors to take an 11-5 lead. Holcomb killed an overpass to extend the margin to 14-6 and she picked up a service ace to build the lead to 18-7. A 7-3 Bulldog run reduced the deficit to 23-16, but the Eagles got kills from Holcomb and Martin to finish the set at 25-18, taking a 2-0 lead.

ERAU won the first five points of the third set and never looked back. Another Holcomb kill pushed the lead to 10-3, forcing Union to take a timeout. The pause in the action didn't break the Eagles' momentum as the Blue and Gold continued to press, increasing the lead to 16-6. A kill from Emily Jacobson on a Union overpass extended the margin to 20-8 and a kill from Holcomb ended the set at 25-15, closing out ERAU's second sweep of the day.

Holcomb led the Eagles with 14 kills (.458 hitting percentage) to go along with six digs and three blocks. Hall added 10 kills and seven digs while Kemp tallied eight kills (.400 hitting percentage). Vazquez collected 26 assists while freshman Erin McIntyre recorded eight assists as the Eagles hit .290 as a team.

The Bulldogs were led by Abbey Wainwright's seven kills while Anna Sims and Cassidy O'Hair chipped in with six kills apiece. Emmie Moroski compiled a team-high 18 assists and Amanda Deem totaled a match-high 12 digs.

The Eagles return to action with a pair of Sun Conference road matches next weekend. Embry-Riddle will travel to St. Thomas on Friday, Oct. 21 for a 7 p.m. match, followed by a 2 p.m. match at Florida Memorial on Saturday, Oct. 22.