Box Score

MADISON, Wis. - Never let it be said that the Edgewood College women's volleyball team doesn't give fans their money's worth. Despite the frazzled nerves and chewed fingernails, the Eagles will gladly take the 3-2 win over Marian University on Thursday night in their fifth five-set match in their first 10 outings. The win gave the Eagles their first 2-0 conference start since 1998.

The Eagles (4-6, 2-0 NAC) appeared like they might roll right through the Sabres early on. Edgewood College cruised to a 25-15 first set win on the strength of a .371 team hitting percentage. The Eagles had 15 kills against just two errors, led by Colleen Myers who came off the bench to for five kills in her first six attack attempts. Marian (1-10, 0-1 NAC) shook off the bus ride in the second set, pounding out 13 kills of their own and taking a 25-23 victory.

In the third set, it was Laura Sweeney who kept the Sabres off balance mixing up her jump serves between hard drives and deadly drop shots. Sweeney piled up three aces in four serves to give the Eagles a 11-4 advantage. Sweeney finished with six aces on the night. Mallory Palmer had her best set of the night driving home six of her team-high 20 kills as the Eagles went up a set with a 25-18 win. Marian bounced right back with another 13-kill set to win the fourth 25-18 and force a decisive fifth set.

The Sabres won the first three points for an early lead, and while the Eagles tied the score five separate times, they didn't take the lead until a kill from Kristin Manske made the score 12-11. Ellie Peckham served an ace for the next point, but Marian called timeout and earned a side out to make it 13-12. However, the Eagles had enough momentum to overcome the setback, as Palmer and Manske recorded back-to-back kills to end the match.

Palmer, the reigning Northern Athletics Conference volleyball athlete of the week, notched a season-high 20 kills. Myers, who entered the match with three kills on the season, finished with nine. Peckham served up a career-best 41 assists. She becomes the first Eagle to record at least 40 assists in a match since Hannah Williams had 47 against MSOE on October 2, 2007. Kim Lueck had a season-high 30 digs, while Dacy Swansby smashed her career-high in digs with 22.

Edgewood College will travel to Milwaukee on Saturday for a four-team round robin event. The Eagles will face the host school MSOE, Marian University once again and Eureka College.