FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle volleyball team seems to be acclimating themselves to NCAA Division II quite nicely. The Eagles picked up a pair of 3-0 wins on Saturday to move their undefeated record to 4-0, sweeping Virginia State (25-16, 25-22, 25-14) and Oklahoma Baptist (26-24, 25-17, 25-19).
 
ERAU 3, VSU 0
 
Evelina Abdurakhmanova, who was named the Sharks Invitational Tournament MVP, put down a match-leading 12 kills to lead the Eagles to a 3-0 win over the Trojans to open the day. Tamires Ferreira, who was selected to the All-Tournament Team (17 assists) and Jordan Nakayama (15 assists) shared the setting duties, while Sumerr Paxton, who was also an All-Tournament Team selection, collected a match-high 17 digs.
 
"I thought we did a pretty good job of playing our style of volleyball against Virginia State," Head Coach Joslynn Gallop said. "We also had a chance to get everybody some playing time, which is a great thing to be able to do early in the year."
 
The Eagles opened the match on a 10-3 run and never looked back. Virginia State closed the gap to 13-11 but the Blue and Gold pulled away to win the set, 25-16.
 
Set two opened the exact same way with the Eagles leading 10-3 early on, but in the middle frame the Trojans were able to rally back to tie the set late at 22-22. Ella Duggan scored two straight points with a pair of block assists and Amanda Saunders put down a kill to clinch the set for the Blue and Gold, 25-22.
 
Embry-Riddle quickly recovered from an early deficit in set three to run out to a double-digit lead (18-8) and easily cruised to a 25-14 win, finishing off the 3-0 sweep.
 
Alexsys Pullen led VSU with seven kills while Adriana Hazou had 16 digs and Diamond Simpson tallied nine assists.
 
ERAU 3, OBU 0
 
The Eagles met a familiar opponent in the final match of the Shark Invitational in former NAIA member Oklahoma Baptist. The Bison, who are on the same timeline transitioning to NCAA II, knocked off ERAU last September in a four-set match in Hastings, Neb. On Saturday, Abdurakhmanova (15 kills) and Ana Pajic (14 kills, 10 digs) led the Eagles to a 3-0 sweep of OBU. Paxton picked up 24 digs to lead all players and Ferreira notched 36 assists, 12 digs and four kills.
 
"We all remember losing to Oklahoma Baptist last year, so to be able to come back and not just beat them but win 3-0 was a great feeling," Gallop stated. "They're a great program and we've always enjoyed playing against them because they're good competition for us, and it's exciting to be able to continue that as both of our programs move into Division II."
 
The first set was the closest set of the tournament for the Eagles, as neither side ever led by more than two points. The Bison held a 24-23 before an attack error gave the serve back to ERAU, and Abdurakhmanova capitalized on the opportunity with back-to-back kills to give the Eagles a 26-24 win.
 
Set two started off closely-contested, but a 9-2 Eagle run pushed the Blue and Gold to an 18-13 lead and Embry-Riddle went on to take the set, 25-17.
 
The Eagles used a 10-3 run midway through the third frame to pull away from Oklahoma Baptist, 17-11, and ERAU never looked back en route to a 25-19 win, completing the sweep.
 
Cadyn Lang led the Bison with 10 kills while Kynnedy Myers had 32 assists and Kaitlyn Lucy had a team-high 20 digs.
 
The Eagles will travel to Nashville, Tenn. next weekend to take part in the Scott Jones Classic hosted by Trevecca Nazarene University. ERAU is slated to face Bellarmine on Friday, Sept. 11 and Trevecca Nazarene and Oakland City on Saturday, Sept. 12.