VALDOSTA, Ga. — Embry-Riddle volleyball traveled up to Valdosta, Ga. for a quick trip on Thursday night, defeating Valdosta State 3-1 at The Complex, winning 25-22, 24-26, 25-12, 25-19.
After splitting the first two sets, ERAU used a 10-0 run in the third set and won the set 25-12 before capping off the night with a fourth set victory of 25-19. The Eagles finished with 59 kills and hit .247 while holding the Blazers to a .161 hitting percentage.
To open, ERAU built an 11-5 lead in the first set behind kills from
Haley Manjack,
Fifi Harvey and
Lindsay Smith, plus blocks involving Manjack,
Ashlyn Koerner and
Kailey Hrbek. VSU worked back into the set and moved ahead 22-19, even after
Dakota Zieman answered one push with a kill to tie the score at 18-18 and added another to make it 20-19. The Eagles erased a 22-19 deficit by scoring the final six points, with Smith's kill starting the closing stretch before
Stella Weisbrod served the last five points of a 25-22 first-set win.
In the second set, Embry-Riddle moved ahead 4-1 behind kills from Harvey and Smith and a Hrbek-Harvey block, before a five-point VSU run put the Eagles behind 9-6. ERAU erased an 11-9 deficit with a seven-of-eight stretch to take a 16-12 lead thanks to a mid-set response from Zieman before four-straight points. VSU tied it at 16-16 and later led 23-21, but Zieman kills pulled ERAU within 23-22 and tied the set at 24-24, with a Blazers setting error also bringing the set even at 23-23 before the hosts scored the final two points to claim the second set 26-24.
The Eagles traded points with the Blazers in the third set through 9-9 before Smith's kill and a VSU attack error helped ERAU move in front 12-9. After the Blazers cut it to 12-10, the Blue and Gold turned a 12-10 third-set edge into a 22-10 advantage with a 10-0 run, including nine straight service points from
Ashley Lunt and three Lunt aces which continued pressure that produced multiple VSU errors as well. Manjack added a late kill for 23-12 and was credited with the block on the final Blazers attack error as ERAU finished the set 25-12.
In the fourth set, the Eagles moved in front after an early tie thanks to a VSU attack error and back-to-back Smith kills to make it 12-9. The Blazers cut the margin to 12-11 and later 16-15, but Embry-Riddle answered with Smith kills and block assists from Hrbek, Manjack, Koerner and Smith during the middle portion of the set. Smith finished with six kills in the set, while Zieman added five as ERAU closed out the set 25-19.
Inside the Statistics
- Smith led the Eagles with season-best 18 kills while hitting .310.
- Zieman added 16 kills and 12 digs, moving to 100+ kills this season to lead the Eagles, hitting .286 through eight matches.
- Koerner finished with 39 assists to surpass 250 assists on the season while adding a season-high 20 digs.
- Hrbek and Koerner led the charge at the net as Hrbek notched five block assists and Koerner tallied four.
- Lunt recorded a season-high four service aces and a season-best 16 digs.
- As a team, ERAU recorded a season-high total of 88 digs in the match.
- The Eagles hit .247 with 59 kills and totaled 14 block assists as a squad.
Up Next
The Eagles will host the Embry-Riddle Invitational this weekend, taking on Lewis on Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. at the ICI Center.
