St. Elizabeth took on an experienced Hunter College in their last match of the day on Saturday at Montclair State U. looking for the win that would bring them back to .500.
The Eagles started out as a team confident that they could play with the experienced Hawks team as they took an early 4-1 lead. The Hawks size and speed began to take a toll on the Eagles' offense and soon the scored as knotted up at 5 and a bit later Hunter had opened a 10-7 lead.
But the Eagles relied yet again on their serving game and their blocking presence to force the Hawks into some uncommon mistakes that fueled a 5-0 run by the Eagles that had the score tied 13. Hunter took a timeout and it seemed to settle the team as the Hawks proceeded to go on a 12-2 run to close out the set. The usually reliable and accurate passing game deserted the Eagles and the Hunter attack did the rest in a 25-15 set 1 win.
The second set saw a much more lethal Hunter team take the court as they pressured the Eagles early with their serving game and were simply brutally efficient in offense in opening a 10-4 lead. The Eagles tried to respond but could not break the stranglehold the Hawks had in the set as Hunter would not concede any more than two points in a row to CSE. The Eagles were down 20-11 before Subhana Wrights got into the scoresheet for a team leading fourth time in the set with a timely kill, the best offensive Eagle by far of the set. Hunter closed the set on a 5-3 run to take it 25-14.
The Eagles took some solace in the success of Subhana Wrights in the second set and started the third set taking risks on their serve. The gamble paid off early and the Eagles jumped out to a 5-0 lead (2 aces). The Eagles were able to fend off multiple attacks by the Hawks as they saw themselves still up by 5 at the midway point of the match (12-7). But then the errors started creeping into CSE's game and the Hawks went on a 6-3 run that cut the lead down to 2 at 15-13.
That run sparked the Hawks to life and the Hunter block began to deflect the Eagle attacks at every turn and, more importantly, the Hawks began to convert on their offensive chances. The Eagles saw the Hawks jump ahead 18-17 but, typical of the team all year, the Eagles did not fold and tied it back up at 18 and then again 20. The difference in the closing of this set was the offensive prowess of the Hawks. Hunter College hit for 4 kills and no errors while the Eagles got an overpass kill as their only offensive output. The Hawks closed out the set on a 5-3 run to seal the set and match 25-23.
The Eagles' record now stands at 13W-15L. The Eagles next take on NJCU at home on Tuesday at 7pm in a match that will also feature the celebration and recognition of Chanice Sears for her services to the CSE Volleyball program.
The Eagles will need 3 wins from the last 4 matches to have the minimum qualifying standard for postseason play (ECAC Tournament - Metro Region).
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