SAINT LEO, Fla. — Embry-Riddle volleyball swept Saint Leo on Saturday at the Marion Bowman Activities Center, winning 25-17, 25-12 and 25-18. The Eagles (17-9, 10-7 SSSC) have won 12-straight against the Lions (5-24, 1-17 SSC) and move to a three-match winning streak with three matches to play in the regular season.
ERAU repeatedly turned narrow SLU leads into advantages of its own. In the opening set, the Lions led 9-8 before the Eagles moved in front 13-10, a stretch that overlapped with ERAU winning seven of eight rallies and putting together four straight service points. The pattern carried into the next set, where the Blue and Gold went from trailing 3-2 to leading 7-4, then won seven of eight rallies from a 4-4 score to move ahead 11-5. In the third set, Embry-Riddle again reversed a one-point deficit, turning an 8-7 Saint Leo lead into a 12-9 advantage.
The Eagles paired those stretches with a full-match attacking edge, finishing with 46 kills and a .351 hitting percentage while the Lions had 27 kills and hit .151. The serving difference also supported the match flow, with ERAU recording nine aces to the Lions' one.
Dakota Zieman finished with 18 kills, hit .457 and totaled 20.0 points, while
Ashlyn Koerner led with 34 assists and added three aces and 10 digs.
Embry-Riddle turned the first set with a seven-of-eight scoring stretch after the Lions had moved ahead 9-6, pushing in front 13-10 and carrying that response into a 25-17 set win. Earlier, Koerner answered the Lions' opening point with a kill off a
Maddey Cruse assist, Zieman followed with a kill, and Koerner added a service ace as the Eagles built an early 4-2 edge. The middle run included a
Stella Weisbrod kill, a
Haley Manjack/Weisbrod block, kills from Manjack and Zieman, and a
Taylor Fonseca service ace that helped move ERAU from down 9-7 to ahead 11-9. The Blue and Gold kept adding separation through kills from
Lindsay Smith, Zieman and Manjack, then reached 24-17 on a Lions attack error before Cruse closed the set with a service ace.
The Eagles created separation in the second set from a 4-4 tie, winning seven of the next eight rallies to move ahead 11-5 behind kills from
Ashley Lunt, Smith and Manjack, plus a Zieman service ace. Cruse opened the set with a service ace, and Koerner followed a 3-3 score with an ace before the Lions tied it again at 4-4. Embry-Riddle kept building the margin with consecutive Weisbrod kills and another Manjack kill for a 14-6 lead, then reached 20-9 on a three-point stretch that included a Zieman kill from Cruse. Zieman added a late kill and service ace, and a block by Weisbrod and
Kailey Hrbek made it 24-11 before a Lions service error finished ERAU's 25-12 set win.
The Eagles turned the third set after falling behind 8-7, answering with a kill from Koerner, a Lions setting error and a Zieman kill to move in front 10-8. Zieman continued to carry the attack through the middle of the set, while Smith added multiple kills as ERAU built its advantage to 17-13 and then 21-15. The Blue and Gold also picked up points from Lions errors, including an attack error that pushed the lead to 22-16 and another after Zieman's late kill made it 24-18. Embry-Riddle closed the set at 25-18, with Zieman finishing the frame with nine kills.
Inside the Statistics
- Embry-Riddle has recorded at least 44 assists in four consecutive matches and at least 46 kills in four consecutive matches.
- Zieman led the Eagles with 18 kills and 20 points while hitting .457 and adding eight digs.
- Zieman has recorded at least 18 kills in four consecutive matches, scored at least 20 points in four consecutive matches and served at least two aces in three consecutive matches
- Koerner finished with 34 assists, 10 digs, three service aces and four kills on five attacks.
- Koerner has recorded at least 34 assists in five consecutive matches and served at least three aces in two consecutive matches.
- Smith added eight kills on 10 swings with no errors.
- Smith's .800 hitting percentage was a season high.
- Fonseca collected 13 digs and added three assists.
Up Next
ERAU travels to face Palm Beach Atlantic on Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 6 p.m. ET at Rubin Arena in West Palm Beach, Fla.
