ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Embry-Riddle volleyball team got off to a strong start at Eckerd College, but the host Tritons recovered to win three straight sets to snap the Eagles' seven-match winning streak. Eckerd won the match 3-1 (17-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-14) to improve to 9-7, while ERAU drops to 9-7 as well.
Jennifer Beatty led the Eagles with 12 kills to go along with seven blocks. Cheye-Anne Savage tallied eight blocks (one solo) while Evelina Abdurakhmanova had seven kills but also seven attack errors. Tamires Ferreira racked up 30 assists and 17 digs and Hannah Gray recorded 20 digs to pull to within 11 digs of Senia McIntyre's all-time career ERAU record.
Tjasa Kotnik led the Tritons with 14 kills and a .458 hitting percentage while Ali McAlvany and Lauryn Nelson each chipped in nine kills. Kaitlyn Sibson had 15 digs to lead the team and Emily Schadow (23 assists) and Gabriella Guimaraes (21 assists) ran the 6-2 offense for EC.
ERAU played a solid first set, limiting the Tritons to a -.086 attack percentage, which was mainly attributable to the Eagles' strong net play, illustrated by seven first-set blocks. Embry-Riddle held leads of 6-1 and 14-4 to take control of the set early, and the Blue and Gold never looked back, taking the set, 25-17.
The Eagles scored the first three points of set two before Eckerd got on a roll, using a 10-3 run to take the lead, 10-6. Embry-Riddle clawed back to within a point numerous times, including 13-12, 16-15 and 19-18, but the Tritons never surrendered the advantage. McAlvany ended the set with a kill to give the home side a 25-22 win, tying the match at 1-1.
In set three, Embry-Riddle looked to be the better side early on, running out to a 7-1 lead. The margin grew to as many as seven points (12-5) before Eckerd began to work its way back into the set. EC pulled to within two (15-13) only to see ERAU score three straight points to stretch the lead back to 18-13. After an Eckerd timeout, the Tritons rallied once again, this time tying the set at 19. Three points later, EC had the lead (21-20), and the home team kept pushing, eventually winning the set by a 25-22 score.
Leading the match, 2-1, Eckerd utilized its newfound momentum in the fourth set, jumping out to an 8-2 lead thanks to five ERAU hitting errors. The Eagle offense never found its footing in the frame, hitting a season-low -.320 in the set, with just three kills against 11 errors in 25 attacks, as the Tritons cruised to a 25-14 win, clinching the match, 3-1.
The Eagles return home on Friday night to host Southeastern in a Sun Conference battle that is slated to begin at 7:30 p.m. The volleyball match will follow the women's soccer game, which will see No. 2 Embry-Riddle host SCAD Savannah at 5:30 p.m.