FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Friday marked the beginning of a new era in Embry-Riddle Volleyball history as the Eagles played their first two matches as a provisional member of NCAA Division II. The Blue and Gold looked quite comfortable in their new surroundings, knocking off East Central in four sets (25-20, 25-27, 25-15, 25-13) before sweeping Westminster (25-17, 25-19, 25-5) to move to 2-0 on the season.
 
ERAU 3, ECU 1
 
The Eagles outhit the Tigers .353 to .169, led by Ana Pajic's .483 attack percentage (14-0-29) and Evelina Abdurakhmanova's .408 mark (23-3-49). Amanda Saunders chipped in nine kills and a match-high five blocks in her Eagle debut, while Tamires Ferreira tallied 42 assists, 10 digs and six service aces and Caitlyn Ballard picked up a career-high 24 digs.
 
"It was nice to get on the court and face some competition to see where we're at as a team," Head Coach Joslynn Gallop. "Being able to rally like we did in the second set and then to bounce back to win the match shows a lot of maturity."
 
Embry-Riddle used a 5-0 run to jump out to a 13-6 lead in the first set but East Central rallied back to eventually tie the set at 20 points apiece. Ella Duggan put down a kill to break ECU's 5-0 run and Saunders capped a 5-0 run to close out the set with back-to-back kills, giving the Eagles a 25-20 win.
 
ERAU ran out to an early 5-1 lead in set two but the Tigers rebounded with a 12-3 run to move in front, 13-8. 10 points later the East Central lead had ballooned to 20-11 and the Tigers eventually found themselves with set point at 24-18. An attack error gave ERAU the serve and Pajic scored a pair of aces to cut it to 24-21. After a Tiger timeout, ECU committed back-to-back attack errors to make it 24-23 and an Abdurakhmanova kill knotted things at 24. Pajic registered a back-row kill to push the Eagles in front, 25-24, but the Tigers were benefitted by a pair of net violations against the Eagles to win the final three points of the set, winning the frame, 27-25, to tie the match at one set each.
 
The Blue and Gold opened up a comfortable lead in the third set on the strength of a 9-1 run in the middle of the frame, opening up a 19-11 advantage. Saunders and Erika Hinel teamed up for back-to-back blocks to finish off the 25-15 win for the Eagles.
 
Set four saw Embry-Riddle start strong once again, running out to a 10-3 lead early on. An ECU attack error increased the margin to double-digits at 17-7 and a kill from Hinel closed out the match with ERAU winning the frame, 25-13.
 
Madyson Gill led the Tigers with 13 kills and 15 digs while Taylor Turner tallied 34 assists.
 
ERAU 3, WC 0
 
Abdurakhmanova (12 kills) and Pajic (7 kills, .412 percentage) led the Eagles offensively in a 3-0 sweep of the Griffins. Ferreira racked up 26 assists and six digs and Sumerr Paxton picked up a match-high 14 digs.
 
"Our outsides played really well today," Gallop said. "I think we have some things we need to improve on, but overall, it was a good day for us as a team."
 
The first set saw neither side pull out to a big lead until the latter stages when Embry-Riddle closed out the frame on a 10-3 run to win the set, 25-17.
 
Westminster led throughout most of the second set, but the Eagles proved to be the better side in the final third of the frame, finishing the set by winning 13 of the last 17 points to claim a 25-19 victory.
 
In set three, Embry-Riddle was dominant from start to finish, holding leads of 9-1 and 16-2. ERAU eventually won the set, 25-5, to complete the 3-0 sweep.
 
Amara Culpepper led WC with seven kills while Taylor Gustafson tallied 10 assists and Megan Gallegos picked up a team-high eight digs.
 
The Blue and Gold will be back in action tomorrow as they face Virginia State at 11:30 a.m. and Oklahoma Baptist at 4:30 p.m. on the final day of the NSU Shark Invitational. Live stats and live video will be provided by Nova Southeastern for both matches.