Riverside, Calif. - In today's home opener, the Golden Eagles picked up their first win of the season by coming back from a 2-0 deficit, to steal a 3-2 (28-30, 18-25, 25-21, 25-13, 15-13) decision over St. Katherine College. The team ended up splitting their two contests, as the host school of the Golden Eagles Invitational Volleyball Tournament. The team ended the day with a straight-set loss to #7 Westmont College (19-25, 19-25, 12-25).
In the first match of the day, the Golden Eagles struggled to find any type of rhythm and momentum. Fortunately, they were able to put together just enough to get over the finish line.
Kiana Krumm paced the comeback with 24 kills, 10 digs, and four blocks (three block assists) in the match. Michele Mendizabal overcame some early struggles to finish with 17 kills of her own. Freshmen middle blocker Veronica Ramirez pitched in with nine kills to go along with six block assists.
Emily Morgan led the defense with a total of 28 digs, while Marissa Fregoso and Hannah Schaffer finished with 31 assists and 24 assists, respectively.
The team was minus three in the service department. The Golden Eagles committed eight service errors while collecting five service aces.
La Sierra's second match of the day, saw them go up against #7 Westmont College (6-1). Having expended much of their energy to fight back from a 2-0 deficit in the first match, the team was unable to keep pace with the Warriors as the match progressed.
Struggling once again to find their rhythm the Golden Eagles finished with a hitting percentage of .009. The Warriors defense at the net controlled play for most, if not all, of the match. The Warriors tallied a total of 21 block assists, while the Golden Eagles had a total of 25 kills against 24 attack errors.
Brianna Greeley finished with the team high in kills with a total of eight kills in the match, followed close behind by Krumm who notched seven kills in the match. Morgan led the team with 16 digs and Fregoso had 14 of the team's 22 assists.
The Golden Eagles, now 1-2 on the season, will look to turn the page and get ready for tomorrow's match-up with #16 Cornerstone University (Grand Rapids, Mich.) in Day 2 of the tournament. The match is scheduled for a 2pm start, pending the time it takes for the first two matches of the day to be played.
Below are results for all five matches of the day and a schedule for Day 2.
Thursday, August 24
11am (16) Cornerstone def Vanguard, 3-2
1pm LA SIERRA def. St. Katherine, 3-2
3pm (7) Westmont def. (16) Cornerstone, 3-2
5pm Hope International def. St. Katherine, 3-0
7pm (7) Westmont def. LA SIERRA, 3-0
Friday, August 25
10am (16) Cornerstone VS Hope International
12pm (7) Westmont VS St. Katherine
2pm LA SIERRA VS (16) Cornerstone
