FULLERTON, Calif. – A pair of comeback wins over ranked opponents highlighted the first day of competition of the 2018 season for the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Ariz.) women's volleyball team. The Eagles, who are receiving votes in the NAIA Top-25 poll, started with an exciting, 3-2 (23-25, 25-16, 20-25, 25-23, 15-12) win over No. 24 Northwest (Wash.) and then came back to upend No. 7 College of Idaho, 3-1 (20-25, 25-19, 25-23, 27-25). Caylee Robalin (SO/El Paso, Texas) totaled 44 kills and 33 digs to help ERAU to the pair of victories.
Vs. Northwest
Northwest (0-1) took the first point in the first set and held a lead all the way until the Eagles tied things up at 23-all on an attack error. Northwest then picked up a kill and clinched the set on a bad set to take the early advantage.
A kill by Erin Clark (SO/Phoenix, Ariz.) capped off a 9-2 run for the Eagles to start the second set, with the ERAU defense holding Northwest to just -.081 hitting as it evened up the match. In set three, Northwest built a five-point lead at 10-5 and never let the Eagles get closer than three points as it took a 2-1 lead.
Set four was close all the way, with a four-point run by Northwest erasing an ERAU lead and tying things up at 20-20. Kills by Robalin and Veronica Norkus (JR/Prescott, Ariz.) put the Eagles up 23-20 and it was just enough as Clark put away a kill that tied the match at two sets apiece.
In the deciding fifth set, it was again close, with the two sides battling to an 11-11 tie. A kill by Robalin and an attack error gave the Eagles a 13-11 advantage before a Northwest ace pulled it back to within a point. Jalin Yoder (SR/Fountain Hills, Ariz.) then put away a kill before Sharik Joseph (SO/San Diego, Calif.) ended it with her eighth kill of the match.
Vs. College of Idaho
Embry-Riddle fell behind early against the College of Idaho in its second match of the day as the Yotes jumped out to an early 6-3 lead. The Eagles closed to a point at 17-16 on a Lyndsey Weiler (SR/Phoenix, Ariz.) kill, and again at 20-19 on a Yoder put away, but three straight late kills by the College of Idaho put the set in the win column for the Yotes.
Three straight points in the early in the second set put Embry-Riddle up 10-7, with the Eagles pushing their advantage to 16-9 on a block by Yoder and Norkus. C of I could not get closer than five points the rest of the way as ERAU evened the match on a kill by Robalin.
Three kills by Robalin in a five-point span lifted ERAU to a 17-10 lead in the third set, but the College of Idaho came back and pulled within one at 22-21 on an attack error by the Eagles. The Yotes could not tie the set, however, as the teams traded points from there, with another Robalin kill giving ERAU a 2-1 lead in the match.
In the fourth set Embry-Riddle fell behind 4-1 before coming back to tie the set at 8-all on a Yoder kill. From there it stayed close, with neither side holding more than a two-point lead. After a timeout, the College of Idaho tied the match at 25-25 on a kill by Ashley Pagan, but Yoder answered with a kill and Robalin once again came up with the winner, this time putting the match in the win column for the Eagles off the 54th assist by Audrey Baldwin (JR/Santa Barbara, Calif.).
Embry-Riddle will play two again tomorrow, taking on Warner Pacific at 8:00 a.m. and playing at Vanguard at 2:00 p.m.
