MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – For the second consecutive season, the fifth-ranked Embry-Riddle volleyball team took home the conference championship by defeating SCAD Savannah, 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-19) at the Fernandez Family Gym on the campus of St. Thomas University. Last year, the Eagles defeated the Bees 3-0 in Savannah, Ga. to win the conference title.
 
The Blue and Gold also accomplished an unprecedented feat in Sun Conference play, winning all 42 sets that they played. ERAU went a perfect 36-0 in conference sets during the regular season en route to a perfect 12-0 record, and backed it up with a 3-0 sweep of Warner in the semifinals and a 3-0 sweep of SCAD in the finals.
 
The Eagles (2­7-4, 12-0 TSC) took advantage of a pair of SCAD errors to take an early 3-0 lead in the first set, only to have the Bees (19-8, 10-2) battle back to take over the lead, 8-7. A kill from Gloria Kemp put ERAU back in front, 11-9, but back-to-back attack errors by the Eagles gave SCAD a 13-12 advantage. Tied at 15, Embry-Riddle showed why they were the No. 1 seed, serving aggressively and playing solid team defense throughout a 9-0 run that featured three Abby Hall service aces. Three points later, Emily Jacobson killed an overpass to close out the set, 25-17.
 
ERAU started strong the second set, using four blocks early on to take a 6-1 lead. Eventually the margin would evaporate, as SCAD rallied back to take an 18-17 lead on the strength of a 5-1 run. A timeout called by Joslynn Gallop turned the tide, as Embry-Riddle went on to win eight of the final 10 points of the set, winning it by a score of 25-20 to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
The third and final set saw the Blue and Gold take a slim early lead of 2-0, but they would never allow the Bees to draw even throughout the entire course of the frame. A service ace from Taylor Martin pushed the lead to 8-5 and back-to-back kills from Hall extended the margin to 12-7. A kill from Kemp gave the Eagles an 18-14 advantage which grew to 21-17 on a Nina Kontrec service ace. Jacobson earned a solo block to put Embry-Riddle one point from victory (24-19) and an attack from SCAD's Olympia Haney landed beyond the end line, giving the Eagles the set, 25-19, and the match, 3-0.
 
Hall was the only player to reach double-figures in kills with 13, and she also had eight digs and a match-high three service aces. Jacobson was solid in the middle, recording eight kills (.467 hitting percentage) and a match- and career-high 10 blocks (one solo). Kemp finished with six kills and a .455 hitting percentage, while Holcomb added seven kills and seven blocks. Kontrec was solid in the back row, picking up a match-high 22 digs, while Adriana Vazquez tallied a match-high 33 assists.
 
Haney led the Bees with nine kills and five blocks while Lauran Eschenroeder registered six kills and three blocks. Pammy Craigle recorded a double-double with a team-high 16 assists and 10 digs, and Chelsey Corgan collected a team-high 11 digs.
 
As Sun Conference Tournament champions, the Eagles have earned an automatic bid into the NAIA National Championship. The final Tachikara-NAIA Volleyball Coaches' Top 25 Poll will be released tomorrow (Nov. 13) by 1 p.m. CST and the 24-team field for the 2011 NAIA Volleyball National Championship Opening Round will be announced tomorrow (Nov. 13) by 6 p.m. CST. The top 11 teams in the final coaches' poll will receive a bye through the Opening Round and advance directly to the NAIA National Championship Final Site.