The Screaming Eagles took flight into NYC as they faced off for the 2nd time this season against Cooper Union. CU had the Eagles number in their first matchup at the Cougar Classic but the Eagles were missing some key players during that stretch. CSE had been playing well of late and seemed poised to finally get over the hump.
The Eagles had a 10 kill effort in the first set and hit for a few aces but in general were tentative and seemed like a team out of sync. CSE seemed to be trying to find itself after employing yet another lineup due to the absence of Captain Carmela Sellitto due to a family commitment. This uncertainty cost the team key points and the Eagles fell 25-23.
The second set went the Eagles way primarily because the Eagles serving turned up the pressure and caught CU repeatedly on their heels. The CU offense became predictable and despite a poor kill performance in the set (only 5 kills), the Eagles hung on for a 25-23 win.
The third set saw a repeat of the 2nd in terms of serving efficacy. CSE was able to hit for a number of aces though and opened a huge lead midway through the match to put CU away 25-18.
The Eagles finished off CU in the 4th set thanks to the passing of Misato Oya and Chanice Sears which allowed Samantha St. Germain to find Kareemah Muhammad on the outside for key kills. The Eagles had a 23-18 lead and just about saw that evaporate (24-22) as the Eagles had a total of 7 serving errors in the set, 3 of them from the 20 point mark to point 24. But, as was familiar in this match, Libero Misato Oya made a perfect dig pass to Sam St. Germain who found Chanice Sears on the outside for a kill and the victory.
Captain Samantha St. Germain had another season high effort with 19 assists and chipped in with 4 aces, 3 digs and 2 block assists. Chanice Sears had a solid day with 7 kills and a team leading 9 digs with only 2 reception errors out of 13 attempts. Kareemah Muhammad was again the offensive star with her second double digit kill effort (11) and added 6 digs and 2 block assists. Jackie Scott and Luisa Franco were outstanding anchoring the back end of the serving rotation, hitting for 7 of the team's 12 aces with only 3 errors. But the most important contribution was by far that of newcomer Misato Oya who filled in for Carmela Sellitto in the Libero slot. Misato was a perfect 100% in serve receptions, having no errors in 26 attempts. She rated a 2.27 pass rating for the match which is the highest rating thus far this year. She also added 8 digs in the match. Misato's passing and digs anchored one of the best offensive outputs by CSE this year and gave the team a glimpse of the future passing ability of the team.
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