DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The 14th-ranked Embry-Riddle volleyball team opened up its conference slate on Friday night with a 3-0 (25-23, 25-9, 27-25) sweep of Southeastern, improving to 6-5 overall and 1-0 in league play. The Fire fell to 8-7 overall and 0-1 in conference action.
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The Blue and Gold came in to the match with a perfect 14-0 record against Southeastern and had never lost a set to the Fire in 42 tries. Embry-Riddle kept both streaks alive, despite SEU coming close to winning two of the sets.
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ERAU didn't get off to a great start, falling behind 11-8 after allowing six straight Fire points. Southeastern's lead grew to as much as five points at 16-11 on a kill by Carol Reis. Taylor Ruiz scored a kill to spark a quick 4-0 run that drew the Blue and Gold even at 17-17, but SEU came back with a 3-0 run of their own to retake the lead, 20-17. The Eagles tied things again at 21-21 on a block from Emily Jacobson and Tamires Ferreira and grabbed two set points at 24-22 with a kill from Ferreira. Jennifer Beatty closed out the set two points later with a kill to give ERAU a 25-23 win.
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After hitting .000 in the first set, the Eagles bounced back to play like a Top-25 team in the second set, hitting .310 as a team. Hannah Gray served eight straight points as Embry-Riddle ran out to a 12-4 lead and never looked back. Ferreira put down a kill to make it 16-5 and then ended the set with a service ace, clinching the set at 25-9 and putting the home team in front, two sets to none.
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Despite outplaying the Fire in set two, the Eagles couldn't put Southeastern away until the last few points of the third set. The largest lead for either side in set three was three points when the Eagles led 6-3; the frame featured 16 ties and eight lead changes. SEU held a set point at 24-23 but squandered it when Michaela Chiarilli's attack went into the net. After Ruiz put down a kill to give ERAU match point, Beatty sent an attack just long to tie the set at 25-25. Ferreira notched another kill on the next point to make it 26-25 and Jacobson pounded a kill to end the set at 27-25, completing the 3-0 sweep.
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Ruiz and Beatty each tallied a match-high 10 kills, with Beatty chipping in with 12 digs as well. Jacobson had five kills and a match-high six blocks (one solo). Ferreira registered six kills, eight digs and four blocks to go along with a match-high 27 assists, while Hannah Gray picked up a match-high 22 digs.
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Lydia Rooth led the Fire with eight kills and added six digs, while Reis had six kills, seven digs and three blocks (two solo). Katie Trenski registered a team-best 21 digs while Alyssa Prescott (13 assists, five digs) and Monica Lowe (eight assists, 12 digs) ran the 6-2 offense.
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The Eagles will hit the road next weekend for a pair of Sun Conference matches in Miami Gardens, Fla. Embry-Riddle visits St. Thomas on Friday, Sept. 20 for a 7 p.m. match before taking on Florida Memorial in Miami Gardens at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 21. ERAU returns home the following weekend for matches against Webber International (Sept. 27, 7 p.m.) and Warner (Sept. 28, 2 p.m.). |
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Stats Comparison |
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Kills |
26 |
40 |
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Errors |
19 |
23 |
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Total Attacks |
110 |
135 |
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Attack Pct. |
.064 |
.126 |
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Assists |
25 |
32 |
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Digs |
66 |
53 |
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Blocks |
6 |
8 |
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Service Aces |
2 |
5 |
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Stat Leaders |
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Rooth |
8 |
Kills |
10 |
Beatty/
Ruiz |
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Prescott |
13 |
Assists |
27 |
Ferreira |
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Trenski |
21 |
Digs |
22 |
Gray |
Limpert/
Reis |
3 |
Blocks |
6 |
Jacobson |
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Henshaw |
2 |
Aces |
3 |
Gray |
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