MADISON, Wis. – The Edgewood College volleyball team needed someone to provide a lift after two lackluster sets left the Eagles tied 1-1 with Carroll University. That someone proved to be Jordan Winkler. Winkler hammered out 17 kills in the final two sets and finished with a career-high 24 kills in the Eagles 23-25, 25-21, 25-7, 26-24 victory over the Pioneers at the Edgedome.
Edgewood College (10-10) held an early lead at 13-9 after a kill from Savannah Koester and a Pioneer hitting error, but Carroll University rose to the challenge. The Pioneers tied the match at 14-14 and then took the lead at 19-17 thanks to a kill by Katrina Zenz and a block by Caitlin Dolan and Dana Voltolina. The Eagles tied the set at 22-22, but Kelly Sloyan's service ace resulted in match point for Carroll University (5-14).
The second set was a sloppy affair as neither team found a rhythm. The Eagles pulled together a 10-4 run to take a 20-17 lead. Winkler and Koester had two kills in that run, and Koester also teamed up with Sarah Schuchhardt for a block. Carley Reuter entered the game late in the set and provided two kills, before Schuchhardt and Winkler stuffed Carroll's Zenz to win the set.
However, it was the third set where Winkler began to dominate. The junior hitter scored seven kills on the Eagles first 14 points in a lopsided 25-7 set. Reuter was almost as good scoring six kills on six attempts in the set. After hitting just .058 in the first two sets, the Eagles hit .593 in the third set.
Once again, however, Carroll had an answer, racing out to a 14-8 lead in the fourth set. Following an Edgewood College timeout, the Eagles front line, led by Winkler got on a roll. Behind consecutive kills by Reuter, Winkler and Renee Meister, the Eagles tied the match at 21-21. The Pioneers scored a kill by Casi Fredrick and an ace by Taylor Kuehl to take a 23-21 lead, but the Eagles wouldn't give in. Winkler scored three straight kills to set up match point, but missed on a potential match winner to leave the score tied at 24-24. Winkler answered the next call, scoring a big kill for a 25-24 lead, and then watching Schuchhardt close out the match with a kill down the middle.
Winkler had 10 of her 24 kills in the fourth set, as the Eagles scored a remarkable 22 kills out of their 26 points. She also added 20 digs for her first career 20-20 match. Reuter provided the spark the Eagles needed off the bench hitting .625 with 12 kills against just two errors. Schuchhardt had another big game with eight kills and no attack errors to go with a team high four blocks. Koester also had eight kills. Rachel Thomsen matched her career-high that she just set last Friday against Loras College with 46 assists. Libero Rachel Tesch collected 29 digs, matching her third highest total of the season. Edgewood College hit .248 for the match, but hit .472 in the final two sets.
Carroll University was led by Sloyan who had 10 kills. Setter Kuehl picked up 31 assists, while Zenz had seven kills and a team-high 19 digs. The Pioneers hit .302 in the final set, but just .105 for the match.
Edgewood College returns to NACC action with a pair of weekend matches. The Eagles will host Alverno College at 7:00 p.m. on Friday in the Edgedome, and then head south on Saturday for a showdown with Dominican University at 6:00 p.m. The Eagles and Stars met in last year's NACC Tournament title match.
