SIOUX CITY, Iowa – For the first time in program history, the Embry-Riddle volleyball team will play an Elite Eight match at the NAIA National Championships, after a relatively dominant 3-1 win (25-17, 25-11, 23-25, 25-11) over 10th-seeded Southern Oregon. The Eagles, seeded seventh in the bracket, will take on No. 2 seed Texas at Brownsville on Friday night at 8 p.m. CST.
 
After stumbling against Biola (Calif.) in the final pool play match on Thursday, ERAU came out of the gates strong against SOU, running out to an 8-2 lead in the first set. A kill from Abby Hall extended the lead to 15-7 and Jordan Holcomb pushed the margin to 21-12 with a kill of her own. The Red Raiders weren't able to mount any sort of comeback and the Eagles ran away with the first set, 25-17.
 
The second set saw Southern Oregon take the first lead at 4-1, but the Blue and Gold quickly erased that deficit, using an 8-0 run, keyed by three Hall kills, to take a 12-6 lead. Morgan Shattuck and Holcomb put up a double block for a 17-9 lead and Holcomb put down the final kill of the set, giving ERAU a 25-11 win and a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
The Eagles started set three with a 5-2 lead and appeared poised to sweep the Red Raiders out of the tournament, but SOU fought back with a 7-1 rally to gain a 9-6 lead. A kill from Emily Jacobson got the Blue and Gold back on even ground at 15-all, but Southern Oregon rallied again, regaining the lead, 20-17. ERAU was able to close the gap to a single point at 23-22 and 24-23, but Sarah Holgen put down a kill for SOU to give them the set, 25-23.
 
Leading two sets to one, Embry-Riddle came out in the fourth frame determined to not allow the match to go to a decisive fifth set. A solo block from Holcomb gave ERAU a 5-2 lead and a kill from Martin moved the score to 7-4, sparking a 7-0 run to put the Eagles in the driver's seat at 13-4. The Red Raiders were only able to close the gap to five points (16-11) before the Blue and Gold finished out the set and match in style with a 9-0 run keyed by five straight SOU attack errors. Embry-Riddle took the fourth set, 25-11, winning the match, three sets to one.
 
Holcomb led the Eagles with 15 kills in addition to seven kills and four blocks (one solo). Martin added 14 kills (.324 hitting percentage), eight digs and three blocks. Hall and Jacobson each totaled 10 kills, while Hall added six digs and Jacobson chipped in with a match-high five blocks. Adriana Vazquez ran the offense, collecting a match-high 52 assists along with 12 digs as the Eagles hit .291 as a team. Nina Kontrec anchored the back line once again, picking up a match-high 24 digs.
 
Megan Bartling led the Red Raiders with 14 kills while Holgen added 13 kills and 17 digs. Caryn Westrick recorded a team-high 23 assists while Becky Johnstone registered a team-high 21 digs.
 
The Eagles will return to action later tonight (Dec. 2) with an 8 p.m. CST match against second-seeded Texas at Brownsville. The winner of tonight's match will move on to the semifinals to take on the winner of the Biola-Lee (Tenn.) match at 12:30 p.m. CST tomorrow (Dec. 3) afternoon.