FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle volleyball team knocked off Nova Southeastern on Saturday to earn a split on its first weekend road trip as a provisional member of the Sunshine State Conference. ERAU defeated the Sharks in four sets (21-25, 25-18, 31-29, 25-16) to improve to 10-3 on the season, while NSU falls to 11-4.
Evelina Abdurakhmanova led all players with 25 kills and hit .379 with 13 digs.
Ana Pajic added 22 kills and nine digs while
Amanda Saunders chipped in five kills and four blocks.
Sumerr Paxton picked up a team-leading 23 digs and
Tamires Ferreira had a solid all-around day, racking up 47 assists, 13 digs, four kills and three blocks.
Nova Southeastern won the first set thanks to a 7-0 run that gave the home team a 19-11 lead. ERAU closed the gap to 19-15, but the Sharks eventually took the frame, 25-21.
Embry-Riddle rebounded quickly, running out to a 10-2 lead in set two before NSU could find its footing. The Eagles were never really tested at all in the second set as they cruised to a 25-18 win that evened the match.
After the intermission, ERAU maintained its momentum, jumping ahead in 7-3 in the third stanza. The Sharks trimmed the deficit to a single point (10-9) before the Blue and Gold went on a 5-1 run to regain control of the set, 15-10. Just nine rallies later, Nova Southeastern pulled even at 17-17, setting up a nip-and-tuck battle over the final few points of the set. The teams were tied at 18, 19, 21 and 22 before NSU was able to take its first lead of the set at 23-22. An Abdurakhmanova kill brought ERAU even at 23 and a Shark error put the Blue and Gold a point away from winning the set. Nova Southeastern scored on a block to tie the set at 24 and earned set point on a Denvyr Tyler-Palmer kill. Pajic kept the set going with a kill to tie things at 25 and after a Tyler-Palmer kill the Eagle block came to life with back-to-back blocks, first from
Erika Hinel and
Amanda Saunders and then from Hinel and Ferreira that put ERAU ahead, 27-26. Katie Pyles scored a kill and a block for the Sharks to swing the pendulum back to their side, but a Pajic kill extended the set further. After a Pajic service error, Hinel tied it at 29 with a kill. Abdurakhmanova then stepped up with back-to-back kills to finally end the set at 31-29.
The Blue and Gold started strong in set four, pulling ahead by a score of 10-4 before the Sharks called timeout. After ERAU scored two more points, Nova Southeastern went on a 4-0 run to cut the lead to 12-8, prompting Gallop to take a timeout of her own. Embry-Riddle quickly recovered and utilized a 5-0 run to push its advantage to 22-12 en route to a 25-16 set four victory.
The Eagles are on the road again next weekend, beginning with a match at No. 17 Palm Beach Atlantic on Friday, Oct. 9 at 7 p.m.
