MADISON, Wis. – After a tense Friday night victory over Dominican, the Edgewood College volleyball team made quick work out of both Concordia Chicago and Maranatha Baptist with a pair of sweeps in their first home triangular of the season on Saturday afternoon.
Behind 12 aces and an offense that registered a season-high .341 hitting percentage, the Eagles (8-10, 4-0 NACC) owned a 25-19, 25-16, 25-15 sweep over Concordia Chicago.
Savannah Koester added a team-high nine kills, hit .692, and added three aces. Freshman Mackenzie Doherty unleashed a career-best six aces to go with eight kills.
The Eagles were outhit .300 to .278, but still took set one, 25-19. Despite a slow start in the second set, the Eagle offense took advantage of a Cougar ball-handling error to take the 8-7 lead and never trailed the rest of the match. It was the Eagles 10th straight victory over the Cougars (14-7, 2-2 NACC).
Maranatha Baptist gave the Eagles a battle in the final match of the day, but it was the Eagles who utilized some clutch plays to outlast the Sabercats (11-8) in a 28-26, 25-23, 25-15 sweep.
Senior Haley Schwenn orchestrated the offense with a season-high 29 assists, Erika Van Engen posted her first double-double of the season with 14 kills and 10 digs, and Renee Meister added 14 kills and hit .480 in the grind-it-out victory.
It was a battle out of the gates in a first set that featured nine ties and four lead changes. The Eagles fought their way back from two set points thanks to a Van Engen kill and an errant set by Maranatha to tie it up at 26. Koester uncorked a pair of nasty serves that forced an attack error and another bad set as the Eagles won set one.
After surrendering a 22-18 lead in set two, the Eagles utilized two straight kills by Meister and Mackenzie Hannan to break a 23-all tie and take the 2-0 lead. The victory over the Sabercats completed the weekend sweep for the Eagles as they now own a season-best three-match win streak.
Next up for the Eagles is a non-conference bout with Loras College (Iowa) this Wednesday, October 4 at 7:00 p.m. in the Edgedome.
