DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle volleyball team picked up its fourth straight win on Tuesday night, defeating Rollins 3-1 (31-29, 26-28, 25-15, 25-8) to improve to 18-3 overall and 11-3 in conference play. The Tars fell to 8-17, 3-11 in SSC matches with the loss.
Jordan Schumacher led the way with 18 kills and 13 digs for her 11th double-double of the season.
Aly Freeland came off the bench and made a big impact with a season-high 15 kills and 11 digs to record her second double-double of the year.
Amelia Hartnett chipped in with 13 kills and hit a match-high .440 while also collecting eight blocks (one solo).
Melanie Canfield also reached double-digit kills with 11, while
Jenna Bishop tied her season high with 10 blocks (one solo).
Olivia Roa picked up a season-high 31 digs and
Alyssa Rudd tallied 54 assists and nine digs. Rudd moved into third place all-time on the career assists leaderboard at Embry-Riddle, passing Tamires Ferreira (2013-15).
The first set saw Rollins take an early 8-5 lead which it maintained until the very end of the frame. The Eagles needed a block from Hartnett and Bishop to stave off Rollins' first set point and tie the set at 24. After both teams committed errors on the next two points, ERAU earned its first set point with a Schumacher kill that put the Eagles ahead, 26-25. The Tars proved to be resilient, fighting off four consecutive set points, until finally a ball-handling error was called on the Rollins setter that ended the set at 31-29.
Set two saw both teams go on short runs that flip-flopped the lead back-and-forth; in total there were 14 ties and eight lead changes in the set. The Eagles mounted a late comeback with a 6-2 run to get to set point with a 25-24 lead. Two points later Freeland put down a kill that made it 26-25, giving Embry-Riddle a second set point. This time the Tars were up to the task, winning three straight points to claim a 28-26 victory, tying the match at a set apiece.
The Blue and Gold opened the third set with a 6-0 run after dropping the first point, jumping out to a 6-1 lead. After Rollins answered with four straight points, the Eagles responded with their own 4-0 run to go ahead, 10-5. The Tars got to within two at 11-9, but a 6-1 spurt pushed the lead to 17-10. ERAU didn't look back, closing out the frame on a 7-3 run to win it, 25-15.
Set four proved to be the least competitive of the night, beginning with the Eagles winning 11 of the first 12 points. After trading sideouts to get to 15-8, the Blue and Gold capped the set the way they started it, with a long rally; this time it was a 10-0 run to close out the match with a 25-8 set four victory.
The Eagles will look to surpass last season's D-II era-record 18 wins on Friday when they open up a four-match road trip at Barry. First serve is set for 7 p.m. in Miami Shores.
