WINTER PARK, Fla. - The Embry-Riddle volleyball team shrugged off a slow start in their first road match of 2018, emerging with a 3-0 sweep of the Rollins Tars on Friday night, 25-22, 25-17, 25-8. The Eagles improved to 7-1 on the season and got their Sunshine State Conference campaign off to a 1-0 start.

Alyssa Rudd had a big match for the Blue and Gold, recording her third double-double of the year with 24 assists and 15 digs, while both Melanie Canfield (10 kills, 9 digs) and Theresa Jordan (10 digs, 9 kills) nearly joined her.

The first set was a back-and-forth affair with the Eagles struggling to get things going offensively and found themselves down 18-14 before Head Coach Joslynn Gallop called timeout. Her team responded with a 7-2 run to take a 21-20 lead, thanks in large part to a pair of kills from Erika Barbour. After the Tars answered with two straight points to regain the lead at 22-21, the Blue and Gold ended the first set on a 4-0 run, capped by an emphatic kill from McKenna James.

The second set began by looking much like the first with Embry-Riddle holding a slim, 13-12 lead midway through. The visitors took control of the set and the match over the next several minutes, going on an 8-2 run, forcing Rollins to call a timeout. The break did little to slow the Eagle momentum as they went on to a 25-17 victory to take a 2-0 match advantage.

Set three proved to be the most lopsided of all as ERAU raced out to a 6-1 lead and never looking back, holding Rollins to their lowest point total in a set (8) in 2018.

As a team, the Eagles hit .143 on the back of 32 kills, while the Tars managed just .009 for the match. The Eagles recorded seven service aces, led by Barbour's three.

Embry-Riddle returns to Daytona Beach to take on NCAA II No. 20 Tampa tomorrow at 4 p.m. in the ICI Center.