MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. - During the regular season, Embry-Riddle and St. Thomas met twice, and both matches came down to a decisive fifth set. On Saturday, the two sides met once again, this time with The Sun Conference Tournament championship on the line. Unlike the regular season meetings, this match was much more one-sided, with Embry-Riddle taking down the Bobcats in three sets, 25-21, 25-17, 25-21.
ERAU (21-9) got 12 kills apiece from Evelina Abdurakhmanova and Cheye-Anne Savage, while Hannah Gray collected a match-high 16 digs and Tamires Ferreira tallied 30 assists, eight digs, four kills and four service aces.
Carly Durr led the Bobcats with 12 kills and Marisa Markus chipped in 10, but Markus also had eight attack errors. Sdney Maynard led the team with nine digs and Dana Nowaczyk registered a match-high 36 assists.
STU came out of the gates well, using a 5-0 run to jump out to a 10-5 lead in set one. After Joslynn Gallop took timeout, the Eagles responded with a 4-0 run to trim the deficit to a point (10-9), only to see the Bobcats regain their five-point advantage at 17-12. The Blue and Gold got a spark from Ferreira at the service line, as she served five straight points to get the set tied at 17. A Markus attack error gave Embry-Riddle its first lead of the match at 19-18, and the Eagles never trailed for the rest of set one, taking the first frame by a 25-21 score.
ERAU opened the second set on an 8-1 run and never looked back, leading from wire to wire in the frame. St. Thomas was able to narrow the gap to three points (13-10), but it was Ferreira's serve that flummoxed the Bobcat defense, allowing ERAU to score six straight points to build the lead to nine (19-10). Embry-Riddle took set two, 25-17, to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
St. Thomas had a 4-0 run early in set three to take a 4-2 lead, but the Blue and Gold answered back with a 12-2 streak that gave the Eagles a comfortable 14-6 advantage. The Bobcats did well to bounce back, slowly chipping away at the deficit until it dropped to just two points (21-19), but that was as close as they would get. St. Thomas committed a service error to give ERAU match point at 24-21, and on the first ball of the final rally, Chancie Grant sent an attack that went long, clinching the match and the tournament for the Eagles.
With the win, Embry-Riddle brings home its fifth straight Sun Conference tournament championship and sixth overall. The Eagles have also earned their fifth straight NAIA National Championship berth and will play next Saturday, Nov. 22 in the Opening Round. The Opening Round will consist of 12 matches played at campus sites throughout the country; Embry-Riddle's opponent as well as the location of the match will be announced Monday, Nov. 17 at 1 p.m. on the NAIA's official website, NAIA.org.
