MADISON, Wis. – Edgewood College put together its fourth sweep over a NACC opponent and improved to 15-8 overall and 6-0 in conference play with a dominating win over Lakeland College (9-14, 3-3 NACC) Tuesday night. The Eagles put together their fourth-highest hitting percentage (.226) of the season in the victory and Jordan Winkler paced the team by racking up 10 kills and nine digs.
The Eagles got things rolling from the get-go Tuesday night, posting a .343 attack percentage in the first set. They forced a timeout after a 7-1 lead and would eventually lead 22-11 after a 5-0 run later on. Lakeland would respond with three-straight kills but the Eagles would close things out by scoring three of the last five points, capped by an Elizabeth Evans and Jenna Dammen block to close out the win.
Winkler had four kills and no errors in 10 attacks in the opening set and six Edgewood College players posted at least four digs.
Edgewood College had to put their comeback ability on display in set two, as the Eagles started slow on offense and were down 18-12. The Eagles finally kicked it into gear and would score nine of the next 10 points to go up two at 21-19. Savannah Koester would record a kill and two service aces in the run.
But the Muskies didn't let the run faze them, as they would score the next three points to go back up by one. Moments later with the score knotted at 23, Winkler recorded her fourth kill of the set and the Muskies would commit a ball handling error to give the Eagles the close 25-23 win.
The Eagles would score three-straight to go up 11-6 in the final set but the Muskies would go on a 6-2 run to pull within one at 13-12. From there the Eagles would go up 19-14 but failed to completely pull away, allowing Lakeland to come back within two at 21-19. Kills from Evans and Koester and two Lakeland attacking errors would propel the Eagles to 25 to complete the sweep.
Six Eagles had at least five kills on the night, with Koester, Evans and Meister each racking up six to tie for the second most on the team. Jenna Dammen tied a career-high in kills with five and had no errors for an attack percentage of .625.
Senior defensive specialist Rachel Tesch led four Edgewood College players with at least 10 digs by finishing with 15. Alex Zapuchlak (10) was another Eagles player in double figures in digs and also recorded 18 assists while splitting setting duties with Haley Schwenn. Schwenn also had 18 assists and finished with nine digs.
Edgewood College will travel to Aurora on Friday, Oct. 16 for its next bit of action, as the Eagles and Spartans will battle at 7 pm from Thornton Gymnasium.
