SAINT LEO, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle volleyball team dropped a four-set match at Saint Leo on Friday night, 20-25, 25-23, 15-25, 23-25. With the result, the Eagles' record moves to 12-17 while SLU improves to 19-10.
Evelina Abdurakhmanova led all players with 22 kills and added eight digs while
Ana Pajic chipped in eight kills.
Tamires Ferreira led the team in assists (28) and had 18 digs while
Sumerr Paxton picked up a match-high 20 digs.
The Lions opened the first set on a 9-3 run before the Eagles found their footing, scoring eight of the next nine points to take the lead, 11-10. Saint Leo regained the momentum and scored seven straight to go ahead, 17-11, but the Blue and Gold once again had an answer, using a 6-1 spurt to trim the deficit to a single point (18-17). A block from
Erika Hinel and Ferreira kept the Eagles within a point at 21-20, but that would be the final scoring play of the set for ERAU as Saint Leo won the next four rallies to take the first set, 25-20.
The Eagles came out as the better team in set two, opening up a 9-4 lead early on. SLU came back to within a point on numerous occasions but didn't take the lead until a Jillian Stolzenburg kill put the Lions ahead, 18-17. Embry-Riddle quickly answered with three straight points to regain the lead, but Saint Leo had a response of their own and pulled ahead, 22-21. Back-to-back kills from
Ana Pajic and
McKenna James gave ERAU the lead once again, and after a Saint Leo point, Abdurakhmanova terminated the next two rallies to give the Eagles a 25-23 win.
Saint Leo opened set three on a 12-5 run and never looked back, eventually winning the set by a 25-15 score to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
The Blue and Gold proved to be a resilient side in the fourth set, using a 4-0 run to erase a 15-12 deficit and take a 16-15 lead. The two sides went back-and-forth for the rest of the match with neither side leading by more than a point until the Lions ended the set with three consecutive points to win, 25-23, securing the 3-1 victory.
The Eagles close out the 2015 campaign tomorrow afternoon at Eckerd. The match is slated for a 4 p.m. start.
