ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Edgewood College volleyball team split their first two matches of the season at the challenging Washington University St. Louis Invitational after sweeping Knox, 3-0, and dropping the night cap to Depauw University (Ind.), 3-1.
The Eagles (1-1) opened the season in dominant fashion, with a 25-19, 25-20, 25-23 victory over a Prairie Fire team that hit just .079. It got dicey in the final set, but their defense rallied the Eagles back from a 22-20 deficit as they scored five of their last six points via Knox attack errors.
Junior Emily Chaussee posted a game-high .467 hitting percentage and combined with sophomore Savannah Koester for 17 kills as the Eagles upped their record to 4-0 all-time against the Prairie Fire. Freshman Nicole Schaeve posted a team-best 10 digs in her first match and setters Haley Schwenn and Alex Zapuchlak distributed 17 and 21 assists, respectively.
In the second of four games in this weekend's invitational, the Eagles tasted defeat despite holding the upper hand in nearly every statistical category against the Tigers. Over the match, the Eagles outhit Depauw (1-0), .212 to .105, but fell 25-23, 11-25, 26-24, 25-23.
Besides the second set where the Tigers were limited to hitting -.128, it was a back-and-forth affair throughout. The Eagles clawed their way back in sets three and four, but Depauw won the final two points each time to close out in the teams' first-ever meeting.
Chaussee was a dual threat with 15 kills and 10 digs for the Eagles' first double-double of the season. Her fellow front-line mate, Koester, totaled 11 kills, but hit .611 after attempting just 18 attacks. Schwenn and Zapuchlak combined for 44 assists while Schaeve collected a game-high 22 digs.
Next up is their toughest test yet against a pair of defending conference champions in Hanover out of the HCAC and 10-time national champion, host No. 6 Washington University St. Louis, out of the UAA conference. The Eagles play Hanover at 11:30 a.m. and Washington University at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 3.
