DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Despite 28 kills from Jennifer Beatty, the 20th-ranked Embry-Riddle volleyball team lost to visiting St. Thomas in five sets (25-23, 24-26, 25-23, 25-27, 15-10) on Friday night inside the ICI Center. The loss snapped ERAU's 76-match Sun Conference regular season winning streak, which was the longest active streak in the NAIA. The Eagles now stand at 2-6 on the year, 0-1 in conference, while the Bobcats are 9-4, 2-0 in league play.
 
Beatty led all players with a career-high 28 kills to go along with nine digs, while Cheye-Anne Savage added 11 kills and four blocks. Erika Hinel tallied a team-best five blocks and added nine kills and a career-high six digs. Hannah Gray picked up a team-high 23 digs and Tamires Ferreira registered a career-best 60 assists in addition to 17 digs.
 
Marisa Markus led the Bobcats with 17 kills while Whitney Battoe chipped in 14 kills and Carly Durr added 12 kills and 10 digs. Sydney Maynard collected a match-high 32 digs and Dana Nowaczyk distributed 57 assists and picked up 10 digs and five blocks (one solo).
 
The match between the Eagles and Bobcats featured a combined total 39 tie scores and eight lead changes. Set one saw three of those lead changes, with STU taking an early 5-3 lead before ERAU battled back to a 12-8 advantage. The Blue and Gold maintained the lead until the very end of the set, when St. Thomas rattled off four straight points, including three straight blocks, to win the set, 25-23.
 
Embry-Riddle never trailed in set two, but it was far from an easy victory. A 7-3 run gave the home side a comfortable 19-12 lead, but the Bobcats came storming back with seven straight points to tie it at 20. After a Beatty kill stemmed the tide, both teams exchanged sideouts until 24-24. Ana Pajic scored a kill to give ERAU set point at 25-24 and Beatty finished it off with a solo block to clinch the set, 26-24.
 
The Eagles led early in set three, 7-3, before STU went on a 7-1 run to move ahead, 10-8. St. Thomas didn't trail for the rest of the set, but ERAU stayed close, never trailing by more than three points. Beatty put down a kill to tie it at 23, but a Bobcat block followed by a Samantha Garza kill ended the frame at 25-23 in favor of STU.
 
Set four was the most hotly-contested, featuring 15 ties and four lead changes. The Blue and Gold held the largest lead of the frame at 13-8, but a short time later the set was tied at 15. Hinel scored a solo block to make it 17-16 ERAU, but STU came back with three straight points to lead, 19-17. Embry-Riddle rallied back with a 4-1 run, keyed by three Beatty kills, to take a 21-20 lead. A Garza kill gave St. Thomas match point at 24-23, but Pajic came up with a kill to extend the set and match. After a Nowaczyk block gave the Bobcats their second match points, Pajic again stepped up with a big kill to tie things at 25-25. STU then committed back-to-back attack errors to give ERAU a 27-25 win, pushing the match to a decisive fifth set.
 
The Blue and Gold got off to a slow start in the fifth set, falling behind 7-2. The Eagles didn't fold, chipping away at the deficit until a Savage kill cut the lead to 11-10. Markus scored a kill for STU on the next point and Embry-Riddle then proceeded to commit three straight errors, ending the set, 15-10, and giving St. Thomas a 3-2 win in the match.
 
The Eagles will look to get back on track tomorrow afternoon as they host Florida Memorial in another Sun Conference match at 12 p.m. in the ICI Center. Live video and live stats will be available at erauathletics.com/live.