Prescott - This weekend, the 18-3 ERAU Volleyball team will play conference foes University of Antelope Valley and UC Merced at home. The Eagles will play the UAV Pioneers at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, October 13, and will face the UC Merced Bobcats on Saturday, October 14, at 5:00 p.m.This is the second time your Eagles have played each of these teams this season. On September 16, the Eagles bested UAV on the road in a tough game, winning 3-2 (24-26, 27-29, 25-20, 25-16, 15-7). ERAU played UC Merced on that same road trip, beating them 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-22).
Since then, UAV has gone 5-2, and are currently third in the CalPac conference. They had strong wins over Mills College and Simpson University, and were bested by Pacific Union and the Masters' College. The Pioneers will be eager for this upcoming matchup, both for the sake of revenge for their previous loss to the Eagles, and for the strategic sake of gaining advantage in conference rankings.
UC Merced has gone 4-4 since their previous match with the Eagles, and are ranked fifth in the conference. Their 4-3 conference record is offset by their 4-12 overall record, so they will be hungry for a conference win that can give them the advantage over some of the other middle-ranked teams in the Cal Pac conference.
The Eagles have been flying high the entire season: their 18-3 record is among the best in the nation, and they are 7-0 in conference play. Libero Megan Riley was just selected as the CalPac Defender of the Week, and Setter Audrey Baldwin was just selected as Setter of the Week. Outside Hitters Jalin Yoder, Lyndsey Weiler, and Caylee Robalin have all made ERAU's net presence one to be feared, and blocker Sharik Joseph has proved herself as a key piece of the Eagle defense.
Be sure to come out this weekend to support your Eagles!
Story by-James Ritchey, Sports Writer
