EAGLES BETTER IN 2ND CONFERENCE WEEKEND BUT WINS STAY ELUSIVE

The Screaming Eagles opened their 2nd weekend of conference play with 2 matchups versus PS Abington and #2 PS Berks.

Abington were ahead early in each of the 5 sets played. The Eagles seemed to be starting each set 5-1 down before they responded with a run of their own.  The spark seemed to come each time from the serving of Luisa Solano who kept the Abington offense at bay and scored a team high 5 aces in the process.  The Eagles were down 20-15, 20-16, 20-15 and 21-18 in each of the first 4 sets and looked like they were going to be defeated easily each time.  However, the team's character was in full display as they fought back in each set late to make it close.  Set 1 went to Abington 25-20 after the Eagles had closed to within 1 at 21-20.  Set 2 also went to Abington 25-21 after the Eagles had closed to within 1 at 22-21.  Set 3 was pivotal as the Eagles finally finished a comeback.  Down 20-15 late,  the Eagles outscored Abington late 10-3 to win 25-23.  Set 4 went to CSE after another late rally pulled the Eagles from a 3 point deficit to the win with a 7-0 run.  Set #5 was all set up for the Eagles to be the biggest comeback of the season but it was not to be.  CSE trailed early 6-1 but a big rally in the middle of the set pulled the Eagles ahead 8-7 at the midway point of the set.  The second half of the set was a back and forth affair that was primarily won by the Eagles.  However, key hitting and serving errors by CSE kept Abington close.  Emblematic of the 2010 campaign,  CSE had the serve at 14-12 but failed to get the ball over the net and gave Abington life.  The next play saw a great serve reception by the Eagles that led to a good St. Germain set but the attack was just out and the Eagles were tied at 14.  Abington took full advantage of the Eagle miscues and served out the match to win the set and the match in 5.

Samantha St. Germain had a season high 23 assists for the Eagles and Jacqulyn Scott added her season high 14 digs in the effort.  Kareemah Muhammad continued her double digit kill numbers with 12 (her 3rd double digit kill effort in the last 4 matches) and Luisa Solano led the way from the service line with 5 aces.

The emotional and physical toll of the match was too much for the Eagles to recover from and the team tried but was unable to put up much resistance to a strong and determined Berks team in match #2.  CSE fell 25-10, 25-8 and 25-12.  Captain Samantha St. Germain tried to keep the team in it and managed to hand out 8 assists and score a team high 4 aces in the loss.

The second day opened with #1 Gallaudet U. and the Eagles seemed to be mired in the same malaise that affected them versus Berks.  Gallaudet dispatched the Eagles in quick fashion as their offense seemed to score at will.  The CSE block, usually effective in keeping the team competitive, failed to slow the Bison offense.  Meanwhile, the Eagles' offense looked out of sorts due to unforced errors and the serve reception couldn't find the handle against the Bison float serves.

The Eagles fell 25-6, 25-4 and 25-10.  Kareemah Muhammad was the only hitter with a positive rating, hitting for 3 kills out of 10 attempts with only 2 errors.

PS Harrisburg felt very confident about their matchup with CSE since the team handled the Eagles quite easily in the first Conference weekend.  The Eagles were not going to give in so easily though and fought hard to get the win.  CSE found themselves in a tight set with Harrisburg with no team being able to pull away from the other.  CSE held a late lead at 24-23 but were unable to convert and found themselves facing 3 set points before turning the table themselves and closing out the set 31-29 behind the serving of Subhana Wrights.  The emotional set win and gutty performance repeated itself in set #2 but the Harrisburg defense was able to keep in play the Eagle attacks while the Eagle "D" couldn't do the same.  The Eagles lost set #2 25-13 in a set that featured many good rallies by each team.
The 3rd and 4th set saw the Eagle passing and serving fall apart as the team hit 12 of its 17 serving errors in sets 3 and 4 and also committed 11 of their 17 passing errors during the same stretch.

Captain Chanice Sears led the offense with 6 kills and Captain Carmela Sellitto led both teams with a match high 21 digs as the Eagles got attacked at will in the last 2 sets.

The most consistent players on the court were Samantha St. Germain and Jacqulyn Scott.  Both young women provided sparks throughout the 4 matches and had season high performances during the weekend matches.