MEQUON, Wis. – Edgewood College had its six-match win streak snapped Friday afternoon at the NACC-IIAC Crossover Challenge in Mequon, Wis., after losing both contests to a pair of the region's top teams. The Eagles first lost to Wartburg College 3-1 before being swept by Coe College in the nightcap.
The Eagles led 11-6 in the first set against Wartburg but let the Knights crawl back into a back-and-forth set. The Eagles held the lead until Kaity Brouwer registered a kill for the Knights to knot it at 20. Moments later, a Wartburg ace tied things at 22 but the Knights would score three-straight points—capped by a block from Emma Harmeyer and Libby Creery. It was the first time the Eagles had lost a set since their match against Wellesley on Sept. 12, a streak that spanned 15 sets.
The Knights, who are receiving votes in the latest AVCA Coaches poll, dropped set two after the Eagles captured a 25-21 win. Wartburg responded by hitting .400 in set three, while the Eagles hit .000 after nine kills and nine errors in 27 attacks.
The Eagles were down 22-20 in set four but scored four-straight to take a two-point lead behind an Emily Chaussee kill and three Wartburg attack errors. Wartburg answered right back with four-straight points of their own to take the set 26-24 to close things out.
Winkler paced the Eagles in the match with 10 kills and 23 digs. Savannah Koester also posted 10 kills while Rachel Tesch had 25 digs.
Coe College, a team that has been ranked as high as No. 23 in the AVCA Coaches Poll this season, held Edgewood College to a .000 attack percentage in the nightcap to hand the Eagles' their second-straight loss. The Kohawks won by scores of 25-13, 25-22, 25-19.
The Eagles were within three at 11-8 in the first set before the Kohawks took over and went on a 14-5 run to end it. No team led by more than three points in a tight second set. A kill by Renee Meister and an attack error by the Kohawks brought the Eagles to within one at 22-21 but couldn't string together points to take a lead. The Eagles held the lead briefly for the first time after a block by Meister and Winkler to go up 7-6.
Edgewood College was down only 8-7 early on in the third set before the Kohawks settled into a groove again and went on a 10-4 run. Koester was the lone Eagles to finish with more than three kills after posting seven while Meister and Alissa Swirth both tallied three total blocks in the match.
The Eagles will begin the second day of the NACC-IIAC Crossover Challenge with a 10 am match against Buena Vista University on Saturday and will conclude the tournament with a 2 pm showdown with Central College.
