Embry-Riddle wrapped up their home games with a five set victory over the Buccaneers of Park-Gilbert in the Eagle Gym on Thursday night. 

ERAU came out swinging in set one as they hit .400 as a team.  The Buccaneers scored first, but then Emma Barber (Goodyear, Ariz.) got the Eagles on the board with her first kill of the night.  After Park went up 2-1, Dalia Haase (Tucson, Ariz.) and Hannah Clear (Fort Worth, Texas) each added a kill for Embry-Riddle to give the Eagles a one point advantage.  Lily Figgins (St. Charles, Mo.) had a service ace to make the score 5-3.  Park did tie the score at 5-5 but a service error and a kill by Kelly Hansen (El Dorado Hills, Calif.) put Embry-Riddle back up by 2 at 7-5.  Barber and Haase combined for a block to make the score 9-6 before the Buccaneers went on a three point run to tie it at 9-9.  Park got as far ahead as four points with the score at 15-11, but the Eagles used a 5-0 run of their own to make the score 16-15.  The teams were then tied again at 16-16, 17-17, 18-18, and 19-19, before Embry-Riddle pulled away and won the set 25-21.

Much like the first set, the second set had a number of ties and lead changes.  The Buccaneers scored first as they took a 3-1 lead, but ERAU tied the score at 4-4 on another Haase kill.  After two attack errors by Park, Embry-Riddle had their first lead of the set but it was quickly erased as the Buccaneers took back the lead on two kills and an Eagle error to make the score 9-7.  Neither team could get a run going until ERAU went on a four point run with the score tied at 15-15.  Embry-Riddle benefitted from another Barber kill, another one from Clear, and a Park error to take an 18-15 lead.  Alexsandra Rodriguez (Phoenix, Ariz.) had a kill of her own to put ERAU up 23-19 and Clear closed out the set as the Eagles won 25-21. 

In the third set, it was the Buccaneers who got out to an early lead as they went up 7-4, however Embry-Riddle used a 6-0 run to take a 10-7 lead.  Another kill by Hansen made the score 11-8 in favor of ERAU, but then Park scored the next three and we were tied again at 11-11.  The Eagles scored the next two points as they went up 14-12, but this time it was the Buccaneers who went on a long run of five points to take a 17-14 lead and force an ERAU timeout.  Out of the timeout, Katie Rolle (Missoula, Mont.) had a kill, but Embry-Riddle couldn't stop the Buccaneers as they won the set 25-21. 

Park led again early in the fourth set and it was too much for ERAU to catch up too.  Embry-Riddle tied the score at 7-7 and 8-8, but the Buccaneers scored the next five as they took a 13-8 lead over the Eagles.  ERAU scored to make it 9-13, but Park used their momentum and scored the next three points.  Rodriguez tried to keep the Eagles within striking distance as she added two more kills, but the Buccaneers maintained their four point lead. With the score at 22-18 in favor of Park, Barber, Rolle, and Rodriguez each added another kill to bring ERAU within one.  Embry-Riddle then tied the score at 22-22 on a service ace by Barber but the Buccaneers used an Eagle error to get the service back and they won the set 25-23. 

In the final set of the night, Park led early again, but Embry-Riddle scored six unanswered points as they took a 7-3 lead and the Buccaneers called a timeout.  Down the stretch, Hansen, Rodriguez, and Clear led the Eagle attack and Alexis Creager (Berthoud, Colo.) had a service ace of her own as ERAU won the set 15-6 and the match 3-2. 

Clear had 14 kills with only 2 errors as she hit .571 to lead Embry-Riddle.  Barber also had 14 kills, Rodriguez added 10, Haase had 9, and Hansen finished the match with 7.  Rolle finished the night with 47 assists.

Embry-Riddle honored three seniors tonight during their last home match as Katie Rolle, Erika Herr (Buckley, Wash.) and Juliette van den Herik (Arlington Heights, Ill.) will all be graduating after this year.

ERAU finishes off the regular season tomorrow in Mesa as they play Benedictine at Legacy Sports Park at 5:00pm.