DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle volleyball team pushed the 15th-ranked Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish to the brink on Friday, but it was the Sailfish who ultimately came out on top, winning a hard-fought five-set match, 3-2 (25-16, 27-25, 22-25, 22-25, 15-7). With the win, PBA improves to 10-3 on the year, while the Blue and Gold falls to 6-6.
Amanda Saunders led the Eagles with 16 kills while
Theresa Jordan reached double-figures for the first time in her career with 10 kills to go along with a career-best seven blocks.
McKenna James also notched a career-high with a 10 blocks (one solo) and
Laina Blanton added six blocks (one solo) as the Eagles broke the program record for blocks with 18 total. ERAU had tied the previous record of 17.5 blocks earlier this season.
Making just her third career start at libero,
Olivia Roa was stellar defensively, collecting a career-high 35 digs, which also marks the season-high for an Eagle this year.
Jordan Nakayama compiled 25 assists and eight digs while
Alyssa Rudd tallied 22 assists and four digs as the setters for the Eagle offense.
Palm Beach Atlantic got off to a good start in the match, hitting .323 in set one while limiting the Eagles to a .088 attack percentage. With the score tied at five, PBA went on an 8-1 run to take a 13-6 lead, and the Sailfish wouldn't look back, going on to take the opening frame, 25-16.
ERAU jumped out in front 4-1 early in set two, and the home team maintained the advantage throughout most of the set. Palm Beach Atlantic didn't take its first lead until a late 4-0 run put the visitors ahead, 20-18. ERAU responded with a 6-1 spurt to earn set point at 24-21 and force PBA to take a timeout. The Sailfish mounted a furious comeback, scoring three straight points and six of the final seven to win the set, 27-25, taking a 2-0 lead in the match.
The third set followed a similar pattern to set two, with ERAU taking a slim lead early and holding that edge throughout the set. Palm Beach Atlantic took advantage of three straight Eagle errors to tie the frame at 17-17, but unlike set two, PBA couldn't take a late lead. This time it was the Blue and Gold who closed out the set well, winning by a 25-22 score to stay alive in the match, down two sets to one.
In the fourth set, Embry-Riddle turned a 6-5 lead into a comfortable 11-5 margin before the Sailfish started to chip away at the deficit. PBA would eventually pull even at 20-20, but a kill from Saunders gave ERAU set point at 24-22 and a service ace from Nakayama sealed the set at 25-22, tying the match at two sets apiece.
The Sailfish found another gear in set five, hitting .500 with 11 kills against three kills and a .000 attack percentage for Embry-Riddle. PBA scored points on four of the first five rallies and pushed the lead to 8-4 at the changeover. ERAU wasn't able to score consecutive points for the rest of the match as Palm Beach Atlantic went on to win the final set 15-7 to earn the 3-2 match victory.
The Eagles return to their home court tomorrow at 4 p.m. to face off against Nova Southeastern.
