MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Edgewood College won its fifth-straight match early Saturday afternoon at the Recreation Complex with a convincing 25-15, 25-16, 21-25, 25-18 victory over Wisconsin Lutheran College. Savannah Koester and Jordan Winkler combined for 26 of the team's 49 kills and the defense recorded an impressive 16 blocks—their most in a match since 2007—in the NACC win.
The Eagles, who improved to 14-8 overall and 5-0 in the NACC, were down 11-9 in the first set before a 9-0 run to take the lead for good. Koester had three kills in that stretch as the Eagles hit .156 in the set. Winkler ended the set with one of her four service aces on the day.
Edgewood College would start strong in set two with a 4-0 run and would suffocate the Warriors defensively while also hitting .467 on offense. Wisconsin Lutheran scored back-to-back points on only three occasions and failed to record three-straight points at any point in the set. The Eagles would score three of the last four points, with Renee Meister and Koester recording kills for Edgewood College's 24th and 25th points.
Edgewood College nearly pulled out the sweep but allowed a late Warrior run in the third set to push it to four. The Eagles led 15-13 before the Warriors went on a 7-0 run. The Eagles hit a match-low .023 in the 25-21 loss.
The defense really hit its stride in the fourth and final set as seven points were awarded to Edgewood College off of blocks, including the final point of the match thanks to Koester and Jenna Dammen. The Eagles and Warriors were tied at 18 before Edgewood College rattled off the final seven points of the set.
Winkler finished with a season-high 15 kills (.324 attack percentage) while Koester was especially efficient with 11 kills and no errors in 21 attacks for an attack percentage of .524. Dammen turned in a career-high eight blocks while Koester and Meister ended up right behind with seven apiece. The 16 team blocks were the most by an Edgewood College team since Sept. 18, 2007, when the Eagles recorded 17 against Ripon.
The Eagles return home for a 7 pm match against Lakeland College on Tuesday, Oct. 13. The match will take place in the Todd Wehr Edgedome.
