MADISON, Wis. – Edgewood College played its best volleyball in quite some time Saturday afternoon at the Edgewood College Triangular, beating 16th-ranked UW-Whitewater and Lawrence University in straight sets. With the victories the Eagles have pushed their win streak to six, with their last four being in straight sets.
The Eagles picked up their first win over a ranked opponent since August 31, 2013 with their victory over UW-Whitewater by a score of 25-16, 25-19, 25-23. The Eagles' last win over a ranked opponent came against fifth-ranked Christopher Newport. They took care of business against the Warhawks by hitting a season-high .250 and it was just the second time in school history that the Eagles have emerged victorious against UW-Whitewater.
Up 13-10 over the Warhawks in the first set, the Eagles then went on a 12-6 run. Four different Eagles recorded kills on that run, with Koester notching the final two for the Eagles. The Eagles raced out ot a 6-1 lead in set two but the Warhawks battled back and eventually tied things at 11. An attacking error on the Warhawks' Kalen Ruemler gave the Eagles a 12-11 lead and they would never look back from there.
The Eagles led 14-6 early on in the third and final set before the Warhawks showed their potential. They climbed back and evened things up at 18. After a pair of kills from both Elizabeth Evans and Jordan Winkler, the Eagles led 24-21. After a UW-Whitewater kill and an Edgewood College ball handling error to make it 24-23 Eagles, Koester saved her best for last with a kill from the right side on an assist from Haley Schwenn to close things out.
Alex Zapuchlak finished with 15 assists for the Eagles while Schwenn turned in 14. Winkler led the team in digs with eight and the Eagles finished with four blocks.
The Eagles took care of business against Lawrence University by hitting an equally impressive .237 against the Vikings. Chaussee had 12 kills and three errors in just 18 attempts for an attack percentage of .500 and posted a game-high 16 digs. Freshman Taylor Stanek nearly had a double-double of her own after posting career highs in both kills (8) and digs (9).
After hitting just .083 in the first set against the Vikings, the Eagles turned it up a notch and posted a .303 mark in the second and hit .357 in the third. Sophomore Mackenzie Hannan also impressed in the final match of the day by setting a career-high in kills with six.
Senior Rachel Tesch finished right behind Chaussee in digs with 12 and had two assists. The Eagles posted a total of two team blocks and held the Vikings to an attack percentage of just .031.
Edgewood College is off until Friday, Sept. 25, when they will head to Mequon, Wis., for the NACC-IIAC Challenge at the Buuck Fieldhouse. They will start the tournament against Wartburg College at 1 pm and will play Coe College at 5 pm later that night.
