The women's volleyball team opened their conference season this weekend, on the road, in Arizona. The team had the tough task of opening the Cal Pac season at #17 Embry-Riddle University, who defeated the Golden Eagles in straight sets, on Friday afternoon. The team quickly regrouped for a Saturday night match-up with Benedictine University, in Mesa, Arizona. The Redhawks, prevailed in a hard fought 5-set win over La Sierra. With the two losses, the women's volleyball team drops to 0-2 in Cal Pac play and 3-10 overall.
#17 ERAU def. La Sierra, 3-0 (25-15, 25-14, 25-21)
Embry-Riddle jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the match, with convincing wins in the first two sets. ERAU closed out the Golden Eagles in straight sets to take the Cal Pac opener for both teams. The Eagles outhit the Golden Eagles by a margin of 40-28 in total kills, including a hitting percentage of .267 to La Sierra's .068.
Despite the loss, Kiana Krumm had a solid performance with 12 kills against four errors, on 29 attempts (.276). The Golden Eagles also finished with 45 digs, led by Emily Morgan's nine digs.
Benedictine – Mesa def. La Sierra, 3-2 (25-23, 15-25, 15-25, 25-19, 15-12)
After dropping the first set, by a narrow margin, the Golden Eagles seemed to find some rhythm by winning the next two sets in convincing fashion. But La Sierra was unable to close things out, eventually dropping the match in five sets. It was the Golden Eagles second 5-set loss of the season, with both resulting in losses.
Ashlin Orosco had a season-high 21 kills (.278), to lead the team, while Veronica Ramirez and Krumm each added 15 kills in the match. Ramirez hit a blistering .700 percentage with only one error on 20 total attempts.
Orosco also led the team in digs, with 20, and was one of four Golden Eagles players who contributed double-figures in the digs category. Krumm added 17 digs, while Angala Jensen and Emily Morgan tallied 16 digs and 14 digs, respectively. Jensen also had a season-high with 52 assists in the loss.
The team will take a short break from Cal Pac play, as they return home after playing five straight road matches, to host San Diego Christian College. Tuesday's match gets underway at 7pm, at the Alumni Pavilion.
