MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. –
Abby Hall put down a match-high 16 kills to lead the fifth-ranked and top-seeded Embry-Riddle volleyball team to a 3-0 sweep (25-19, 25-16, 25-19) over fourth-seeded Warner on Friday night at the Fernandez Family Gymnasium. The Blue and Gold will take on SCAD Savannah tomorrow at 2 p.m. in the conference championship match.
Warner (12-17, 6-6 TSC) took an early 2-0 lead and maintained a two-point advantage up to 8-6, when Embry-Riddle (26-4, 12-0) rattled off five straight points to take an 11-8 lead. A kill from Hall extended the lead to 13-10, but the Royals fought back to pull within one at 17-16. A kill from
Jordan Holcomb sparked a 6-0 run that put the Eagles in control at 23-16, and
Emily Jacobson terminated the final point on an overpass to close out the set, 25-19.
ERAU started better in the second set, opening up a 6-3 lead and pulling away to a 14-8 advantage midway through the set. Back-to-back double blocks from Hall and Jacobson extended the margin to 19-10, and a double block from Holcomb and
Morgan Shattuck finished the set at 25-16.
The Eagles battled Warner in the early stages of set three, with the teams tied six times in the first 14 points. From that point the Blue and Gold went on an 11-2 run to run out to an 18-9 lead, taking complete control of the set. A kill from Holcomb moved the lead to 22-15 and
Leslie Roper brought the match to an end with a kill, giving ERAU a 25-19 win in the final set and a 3-0 win in the match.
Hall led the way with a match-high 16 kills and added seven digs and three blocks.
Taylor Martin chipped in with nine kills (.350 hitting percentage) and eight digs, while Jacobson added seven kills (.417 hitting percentage) and a match-high six blocks.
Nina Kontrec led the defense with a match-high 20 digs and
Adriana Vazquez ran the offense, recording a match-high 36 assists as the Eagles hit .263 collectively.
Jenni Cook led the Royals with nine kills while Symone Carter added eight kills and 10 digs. Jarrah Garner collected 14 digs and Aysha Nickels tallied team-highs in assists (28) and digs (15).
The Eagles will take on SCAD Savannah tomorrow afternoon in The Sun Conference Championship match at 2 p.m. The Bees defeated Webber International, 3-0 (25-21, 27-25, 25-20) in the first semifinal match Friday to advance to the title match.
