CARROLLTON, Ga. – Playing in its first South Region Crossover Tournament as a provisional member of the Sunshine State Conference on Friday, the Embry-Riddle volleyball team swept a pair of Gulf South Conference opponents. The Blue and Gold easily defeated the host West Georgia Wolves 3-0 (25-11, 25-16, 25-20) before breezing past Mississippi College 3-0 (25-17, 25-15, 25-16).
With the victories, ERAU improves to 12-5 on the year, while UWG drops to 3-13 and MC falls to 2-19.
"I think we did a pretty good job of representing both the Sunshine State Conference and the Embry-Riddle Volleyball program today at our first crossover tournament," ERAU Head Coach
Joslynn Gallop said after the wins. "We know how important this tournament is in terms of showing the nation which conference is the best in the southeast and I think we did well today in our first two matches against the Gulf South Conference."
ERAU 3, UWG 0 The Eagles, who are seeded as the ninth-placed team from the Sunshine State Conference, opened up the tournament against West Georgia, the 11th-seeded team from the Gulf South Conference. The Blue and Gold were the better team throughout the match, outhitting the Wolves .258 to .071.
Ana Pajic led all players with 13 kills while
Evelina Abdurakhmanova added nine and
Ella Duggan chipped in with seven.
Tamires Ferreira tallied a match-high 30 assists to go along with eight digs and three service aces while
Sumerr Paxton picked up a match-best 17 digs.
The Blue and Gold used an early 8-0 run to open up a 10-4 lead in the first set and never looked back. Six points later the lead reached double-digits at 15-5 and the Eagles were never challenged, going on to win the frame, 25-11. ERAU limited the Wolves to just four kills and a -.111 attack percentage in the set while hitting .333 themselves.
Set two saw UWG jump out to a 10-5 lead in the early stages before Embry-Riddle came roaring back with a 14-3 spurt that tipped the scales in ERAU's favor, 19-13. The Eagles punctuated the set with an exclamation point, scoring the last five points to finish off a 25-16 win.
The Blue and Gold scored the first four points of the third set only to see UWG battle back to tie things at 8-8. Embry-Riddle pulled away in the middle of the set with an 8-2 run to pull ahead to a comfortable 20-13 advantage, and the Eagles cruised to a 25-20 win from that point.
ERAU 3, MC 0 Against Mississippi College, the 10th seed from the GSC, Embry-Riddle looked dominant for nearly the entire match. The Eagles outhit the Choctaws .324 to .123 and tallied nine service aces against just two service errors.
Abdurakhmanova led all players with 15 kills and added nine digs while Pajic tallied 12 kills and eight digs while hitting .480 with no attack errors. Duggan had four kills on just six swings and registered three blocks (two solo). Paxton collected 17 digs to lead all players and Ferreira racked up 28 assists, seven kills and six digs.
The Choctaws came out strong, scoring five of the first six points and leading by as many as six (9-3). But a timeout called by Gallop helped to settle the Eagles down and break the momentum on the other side of the net, as ERAU came out of that timeout and promptly scored eight consecutive points to take an 11-9 lead. A 6-0 run that included three Abdurakhmanova kills pushed the advantage to 20-12 and the Eagles cruised to a 25-17 set one win.
Mississippi College again held an early lead in set two, this time by a slimmer margin at just 5-3, but the Blue and Gold took control with an 8-0 run that put ERAU ahead, 14-6. The lead hit double-digits at 21-11 and Embry-Riddle sailed to a 25-15 win and a 2-0 lead in the match.
In set three it was a 7-0 run that put the Eagles in control at 7-3 and a late 6-0 run blew it open, turning a 15-13 score into a comfortable 21-13 advantage and allowed ERAU to close out the match with a 25-16 win.
The Eagles will close out the South Region Crossover tomorrow at 2:30 with a match against Christian Brothers.
