CSE took on the Steels of the Culinary Institute in the 2nd match of this weekend opener looking to avenge a 2011 4 set loss to this team and get their first win of the season.
The Eagles jumped out to a 10-2 lead behind the tough serving of Rachel Hausler and looked to have the set well in control as the Steels could not muster any consistent offense while the Eagles seemed not to be able to miss. The Eagles extended their lead to 21-9 and never looked back as the Steels could not keep their attacks in play and the Eagle block was too effective. Eagles finished off the first set on a 4-0 run and won it by a 25-9 score.
The second set proved to be a different story. The Steels found their offense and the Eagles, nearly error free during the first set, could not seem to get into rhythm in set 2. The set was a back and forth affair with neither team able to pull away by more than 2-3 points at any given time. With the score 9-6 CSE, Culinary went on a mini 3-0 run to tie the score but the Eagles did not falter and maintained control of the set trading points with the Steels. Both teams were attacking and serving efficiently, which caused numerous ties (12-12, 13-13,14-14) in the middle portion of the set. The Eagles were able to open up a slight lead at 17-14 thanks to Katie Cooper's serving and the blocking of Co-Captains Subhana Wrights and Amy Cooper. That seemed to be the spark the team needed as they maintained that slimmest of margins until late in the set at 23-20 thanks to timely hitting and defense. The Steels could not seem to recover and CSE closed it out 25-22.
The 2nd set was a harbinger of things to come for the Eagles however. The Steels had found their offense and were forcing the Eagles into tough offensive options. The pattern continued in set 3 but this time, it was CSE that seemed to err on almost every ball early. Trailing early 8-3, Coach Martins called a timeout to address the team and the Eagles seemed to come back onto the court a bit more settled. CSE went on a 6-3 run which saw the Eagles close to within 2 at 11-9 thanks to their tough serving. However, the hitting and passing errors crept up again and the Steels took full advantage, going on a 9-0 run which took the lead up to 20-9. In a testament to their character, the Eagles went on a run of their own (8-3) which closed the gap to 6 at 23-17 but another 2 passing errors sealed the deal for the Steels as they took the set 25-17.
A demoralized Eagle team did not respond well to the start of the 4th set and found themselves down early 6-2. CSE fought back to within 1 at 7-6 behind some solid defense and blocking. Unfortunately, the Eagle offense yielded many errors and the Steels went on a 14-4 (21-10) run that more than gave Culinary the cushion they needed to win set 4 by a 25-14 margin. Opposite Jeane Goodson was also lost to the team in set 4 due to a knee injury and first year player Taisha Colon had to fill this most important spot.
The decisive final set saw a gritty and determined Eagle team rally themselves into the match as Colon continued to play seamlessly in Goodson's absence. The Steels took an early 2-0 lead but the Eagles bounced back with a 3-0 run driven by 2 kills by Katie Cooper and a block by Cooper and Subhana Wrights. The teams kept trading points as expected but the Steels took control back of the set with another 2-0 run that saw the Eagles commit 2 attack errors (7-6). After the teams changed sides with CSE trailing 8-7, the Steels looked to expand their lead but it was CSE who took control of the set with a 5-2 run that put the team on the precipice of their first victory at 13-10.
It was then that team kill leader Katie Cooper was injured on a headlong dive and was lost for the match. Without their kill leader and most effective hitter, Coach Martins looked to his Captains, Amy Cooper, Kareemah Muhammad, Subhana Wrights and Rachel Hausler to settle the nerves of Colon and first year player Alyssa Moscova as the match was in the balance. The Steels proceeded to go on a 3-0 run to take a 14-13 lead with 1 kill, a block and an Eagle error. With the Steels serving for the match, Rachel Hausler then passed a perfect 3 ball to Amy Cooper who found Subhana Wrights out of the middle for an enormous kill that tied the set at 14-14. A serving error, however, put the match back in the Steels' hands. After a quick serve receive adjustment by Coach Martins, Amy Cooper put up a playable ball to Subhana Wrights who proceeded to set Kareemah Muhammad for a kill to tie the set at 15 again. Yet again, Colon, filling in for Goodson, stepped up and delivered a tough serve that forced the Steels into an out of system attack and an error. Colon delivered on the next serve as well with a short serve that was not returnable and the wounded Eagles escape with their first hard-fought victory of the season.
Congratulations to the team, the captains for stepping up in the big points of the match and top Taisha Colon for 2 critical serves under an exceptionally pressured situation.
The Eagles will now look to heal and prepare for a quad match next Saturday, September 8th, at Bryn Athyn.
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