SANTA CLARITA, Calif. - A day after dropping a pair of tough five-set matches, the Embry-Riddle volleyball team bounced back to pick up a pair of big wins, upsetting No. 19 Vanguard and defeating the host school, The Master's College. ERAU won both matches by 3-1 scores, taking down VU 20-25, 25-13, 25-20, 25-15 and beating TMC 25-23, 28-26, 23-25, 25-14.
Embry-Riddle 3, No. 19 Vanguard 1
The Lions came out firing, hitting .371 in the first set en route to a 25-20 win, but the Eagles rebounded to dominate the rest of the match, hitting .345 or higher in each of the next three sets, winning all three.
Evelina Abdurakhmanova led all players with 18 kills while Cheye-Anne Savage chipped in 10 kills, hitting .588. Erika Hinel had eight blocks to lead all players and Hannah Gray picked up a match-high 22 digs. Tamires Ferreira nearly had a triple-double with 35 assists, 10 digs, nine kills, six blocks and four service aces.
Jessica Chase led the Loins with 15 kills but also had 10 attack errors, while Sarah McKinny tallied nine kills. Kiana Nicio had a team-high 15 digs and Lauren Hays led the team with 45 assists and five blocks (two solo).
The first set was the closest of the four, with nine ties and three lead changes, while the other three sets saw just one tie and one lead change. The Eagles went on a 3-0 run to move ahead, 18-17, but the Lions rallied after a timeout to score four straight and regain the advantage, 22-18. Abdurakhmanova put down a pair of kills to make it 22-20, but Vanguard closed out the set with three straight kills from Chase to win, 25-20.
Set two saw Embry-Riddle run out to a 7-2 lead, keyed by three consecutive aces from Ferreira. A 9-0 run blew it open for ERAU, giving the Eagles a 19-7 lead, which would prove to be insurmountable as the Blue and Gold cruised to a 25-13 win.
Another big run was key in set three, as the Eagles scored eight straight points to take an 11-5 lead. The Lions came back to make it 15-13, but an 8-3 run made it a 23-16 lead, and despite a 4-0 VU spurt, ERAU held on for the 25-20 win, taking a 2-1 lead in the match.
Embry-Riddle dominated the fourth set, hitting .406 in the frame compared to VU's .139 attack percentage. Hinel and Jennifer Beatty combined for a double-block that gave ERAU an 8-2 lead, and Hinel teamed up with Ana Pajic for another double-block that made it a 17-11 score. The Lions got to within four (18-14), but the Blue and Gold closed out the match winning seven of the last eight points to win the set, 25-15.
Embry-Riddle 3, The Master's 1
The Eagles and Mustangs played three very tight sets to open the match, all of which were decided by just two points. ERAU took the first two before TMC stayed alive with a 25-23 win in set three; the Eagles didn't let the Mustangs grab the momentum for too long, running away with a 25-14 win in the fourth set to clinch the match. The match featured 34 ties and 19 lead changes, with just two ties and one lead change occurring in the fourth set.
Beatty led the Eagles with 15 kills while Abdurakhmanova had a double-double for the second straight day with 14 kills and 12 digs. Savage added 10 kills and Hinel tallied eight blocks (three solo). Gray led all players with 28 digs and Ferreira turned in another solid all-around performance with 42 assists, 13 digs and seven kills.
Ashley Kuhlman led The Master's with 15 kills and hit .438, while Britney Jones hit .400 with eight kills. Emily Clark collected 26 digs and Aubrey Bekendam registered 40 assists and nine digs.
A 5-0 ERAU run put the Eagles ahead, 13-11, partway through the first set. TMC wouldn't regain the lead until 21-20 after a 6-1 run, but Embry-Riddle bounced back with kills from Ferreira and Savage to regain the advantage, 22-21. On set point, Jones' serve sailed into the net to give the Blue and Gold a 25-23 win.
The Master's ran out to a 9-5 lead early in set two, and the home team eventually pushed the lead to 17-11 and 22-16. A 4-0 run that included two Abdurakhmanova kills and two TMC errors made it 22-20, and a Ferreira service ace tied things up at 23. Ferreira aced another serve after a Mustang timeout, but Kuhlman killed the next ball to extend the set with both teams tied at 24. The Master's staved off two more set points before Sumerr Paxton aced a serve to end the set at 28-26.
Embry-Riddle went on a 5-0 run to take the lead, 10-8, early on in set three. Both squads traded the lead back and forth, with ERAU taking back the lead on a Savage kill that made it 22-21. A service error two points later made it 23-22, putting the Eagles just two points away from a sweep. Savage's serve went wide to tie it at 23, and the Mustangs won the next two points to win the set, 25-23, avoiding the sweep.
The Master's started well in set four, running out to an 8-3 lead. A 6-0 run keyed by three straight Beatty kills put ERAU ahead for the first time in the set, 9-8. The Blue and Gold found its rhythm, taking the one-point lead and turning it into a seven-point advantage (17-10) pretty quickly. The Eagles rode the momentum to a 25-14 win, handing the home team a 3-1 loss.
Embry-Riddle returns to the Sunshine State and to Sun Conference action next weekend, beginning with a rematch against St. Thomas on Friday, Oct. 24 at 7 p.m. in Miami Gardens, Fla. First place in the conference will be on the line, as the Bobcats are 7-0 and atop the league table, while ERAU is 6-1 and in sole possession of second place.
