DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle volleyball team avenged an early season loss to Eckerd (RV) on Friday, topping the Tritons (18-4, 7-4) in four sets 28-26, 25-16, 19-25, 25-18 at the ICI Center. The win was the Eagles' sixth of the season in Sunshine State Conference play as they moved to 15-10 overall and 6-8 in the league.
The Eagles hit .281 as a team with four players hitting above .300.
Jaden McBride led all players and matched her season high with 22 kills and seven digs, while
Cameron Gilleland finished with 14 kills and 13 digs.
Jenna Bishop totaled eight blocks assists, while
Devyn Petrowski dished out 23 assists.
In the first set, the Eagles were led by Gilleland who hit a blistering .625 and was one of three Eagle players with five kills in the set. The Eagles opened the set with a 5-2 advantage and after Eckerd tied the score at 6-6, ERAU's 5-2 spurt reclaimed the three-point edge. Once again, the Tritons were able to mount a comeback and a back-and-forth battle ensued, leading to a 25-25 tie. After the Tritons took a brief lead, Gilleland registered a kill,
Isabella Rujano served up an ace and Gilleland put down another kill to give the Eagles the 28-26 win.
The second set began much like the first with the Eagles taking an early lead and the Tritons rallying to tie the score at 12-12. At that point, the Eagles scored three points in a row to go up by three (15-12) and outscored Eckerd 10-3 in the remainder of the set to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
Set three saw the Tritons hit .441 with 18 kills to the Eagles' 13 to force a fourth set with a 25-19 win.
ERAU maintained a three-point edge through the first half of the fourth frame. Following a 3-0 run by the Tritons, ERAU Head Coach
Joslynn Gallop called a timeout and it had the desired effect as the Blue and Gold put together a 7-0 run to lead 22-12. Another run by Eckerd that saw the visiting team score five unanswered points prompted another timeout, and McBride came out of the huddle to lead the Eagles registering the last three kills of the set to seal the win.
Next up for the Eagles is a 4 p.m. match against sixth-ranked Tampa on Saturday.
The 2022 Embry-Riddle volleyball season is presented by Radiology Associates.
