Embry-Riddle fell to Saint Katherine's this afternoon in San Marcos, California as the Firebirds won 3-0. 

In the first set, the teams went back and forth as USK scored first, but then an Emma Barber (Goodyear, Ariz.) service ace and a Firebird error gave the Eagles a 2-1 lead.  After some back and forth play, Barber had back to back kills that put ERAU up 8-5.  A kill by Kelly Hansen (El Dorado Hills, Calif.) kept Embry-Riddle up by three with the score at 9-6.  USK scored the next three points on blocks as they knotted the score at 9-9.  After two Firebird errors, ERAU went up 11-9, however USK scored four points in a row as they took a 13-11 lead.  Katie Rolle (Missoula, Mont.) had a kill to pull the score to 13-12 still in favor of Saint Katherine's, but then USK went a 4-1 as the score quickly became 17-13 and the Eagles had to call a timeout.  Out of the timeout, Hannah Clear (Fort Worth, Texas) added her first kill of the night to bring ERAU back within three points, but the Firebirds proved to be too strong as they scored the next couple points and ended up winning the set 25-16. 

Saint Katherine's jumped out to an early lead in the second set as they went up 4-1 before Dalia Haase (Tucson, Ariz.) had a kill for the Eagles to make it 2-4.  ERAU got within one point as Hansen had another kill but USK used another run to score the next four and they went up 9-4.  Embry-Riddle did not back down however as the Eagles tied the set at 12-12 with a block from Alexsandra Rodriguez (Phoenix, Ariz.) and Haase.  The USK offense however pulled away again as they scored the next four and went up 16-12.  With the score at 17-13 in favor of the Firebirds, Rodriguez added a kill and then St. Kats had two errors to pull the Eagles within a point at 16-17.  ERAU then however had a few errors of their own as USK went back up by four points and Embry-Riddle couldn't catch up as the Firebirds won set 2 25-20 and took a 2-0 lead in the match. 

Not wanting the match to end, the Eagles battled in set three as they fell 27-29 to league leading Saint Katherine's.  In the final set, Embry-Riddle led most of the way but were unable to close it out as USK won the match 3-0.

Embry-Riddle will play again next on Thursday as the Eagles head to Northern California.  ERAU will play at UC Merced at 6:30pm on October 26^th.