DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The seventh-ranked Embry-Riddle volleyball team took down Bellevue (Neb.) in four sets (27-25, 25-21, 21-25, 25-12) on Friday night inside the ICI Center. The Eagles improve to 13-4 on the season while Bellevue drops to 20-7.
 
The first set was a back-and-forth affair that saw 18 ties and 10 lead changes. The Bruins used a 4-0 run to take a 13-9 lead midway through the first set, but the Blue and Gold responded with a 4-0 run a short time later, tying the set at 14. A kill by Taylor Martin put ERAU ahead, 18-17 and another Martin kill increased the lead to 22-20. But BU bounced back with three straight points to take a one-point lead (23-20). Jordan Holcomb put down a kill to fend off set point, tying the set at 24-24. Adriana Vazquez earned a point with a setter dump to give Embry-Riddle a 26-25 lead, and a block from Morgan Shattuck and Emily Jacobson finished the set at 27-25 for the Eagles.
 
In the second set the Eagles used a 6-1 run early to take a 9-5 lead, only to have Bellevue rally back to take a 16-15 lead later in the frame. ERAU responded two points later when a kill by Gloria Kemp started a 5-0 run that put the Blue and Gold in front, 21-17. A few minutes later, Shattuck closed the set with a kill to give Embry-Riddle a 25-21 win a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
The Eagles held a 14-11 lead midway through the third set, but the resilient Bruins fought back with a 5-1 spurt to take a 16-15 lead, which they would not relinquish for the rest of the stanza. The margin grew to four points at 22-18 and the Eagles couldn't cut the deficit any lower than two points as Bellevue claimed the set, 25-21, extending the match to a fourth set.
 
ERAU's Jacobson put down a kill to spark a four-point run that gave the Eagles a 10-5 lead early in the fourth set. A pair of attack errors by the Bruins built the lead to 15-9 and a kill by Holcomb pushed the score to 17-11. After BU scored to make it 17-12, the Blue and Gold scored the final eight points of the match, seven of which came via Bellevue errors. The Eagles took the final set in convincing fashion, 25-12, winning the match 3-1.
 
Martin led all players with 15 kills and Holcomb added 11 kills and 19 digs. Jacobson reached double-figures in kills with 10 and contributed a season-high nine blocks. Shattuck chipped in with seven kills and seven blocks while Kemp added six kills and six blocks as she saw her first significant playing time of 2012. Hannah Gray picked up a match-high 26 digs and Vazquez collected a team-high 41 assists. As a team, Embry-Riddle totaled a season-best 16.5 blocks with seven different players registering at least one block.
 
Annie Benson led Bellevue with 13 kills and added 12 digs, while Sydney DeBoer and Symone Faulkner each contributed nine kills. Meghan Evans tallied a team-high 18 digs and Jordan Broady recorded a match-high 45 assists along with 11 digs.
 
The Eagles return to the court tomorrow with a pair of matches, beginning with an 11:30 a.m. contest against South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. The Blue and Gold close out the ERAU Tournament with a 7 p.m. match against Bethel (Tenn.)