EAGLES GET 2 OF 3 AT BRYN ATHYN

SCREAMING EAGLES TAME THE LIONS OF BRYN ATHYN

The Eagles headed out to Bryn Athyn this past Saturday to face off against the Bryn Athyn Lions, the Bryn Mawr Owls and the Goucher Gophers in a competitive quad match.

CSE opened the quad match versus the Bryn Athyn Lions and the set proved to be extremely competitive as both squads could not sustain any real momentum in a set that featured multiple lead changes.  Late in the set however, with CSE leading 20-19,  the Eagles went on 4-1 run fueled by a Kiara Francisco block, a Katie Cooper kill and a couple of Lion errors that sealed the set at 25-21.

The second set saw a more inspired Bryn Athyn side who took control early of the set and seemed to be on its way to an easy second set victory midway through the set leading 13-7.  After an Eagle timeout, CSE got back to its precise passing and tough serving which paid immediate dividends.  The Eagles went on an 18-5 run to close out the second set.  Amy Cooper and Katie Cooper led the comeback behind the service line, hitting for a 5 aces and 9 service points in the midst of the run to lead the comeback.

The momentum gained in the second set carried into the third as the Eagles took control early and never looked back, beating the Lions 25-11 to take the match 3 sets to 0.  Kareemah Muhammad led the offense in the 3rd set with 3 kills while Rachel Hausler received 8 of the team's total serve receptions with a 2.0 rating and a set leading 7 digs.


EAGLES NO MATCH FOR BRYN MAWR OWLS

Although the Eagles looked convincing in their victory over Bryn Athyn,  the team could not muster a consistent effort against the Owls of Bryn Mawr.  Numerous errors cost the team any chance to control any of the 3 sets as the Owls opened up a lead early in each set that the Eagles could not cut into.  The Eagles fell 25-17, 25-15, 25-16.  CSE was led by Katie Cooper's 8 kills and Kareemah Muhammad's 7 kills (only 3 errors). Rachel Hausler saw 41 serve receptions and was error free on 39 of them with a team leading pass rating of 2.13 and a team leading 9 digs.


SCREAMING EAGLES SOAR TO ANOTHER 5 SET WINNER VS. GOPHERS

CSE came off a tough loss to the Bryn Mawr Owls and were staring at the only undefeated team on the day, the Goucher College Gophers, as their last opponent.  CSE began the match well and the set was a back and forth affair that saw the Gophers take command of the set late as they took a 23-19 lead over the Eagles.  The Eagles forced the Gophers into bad passes through Amy Cooper's serving and the Captain finished off the set with an ace to give the Eagles a 25-23 set win.

The second set saw a much more inspired Gopher squad who played nearly flawless volleyball early while the Eagles were forced into numerous errors.  The Eagles trailed early and could never recover as the Gophers extended leads of 10-5 to 13-6 to 19-9 before closing out the set 25-17.  Subhana Wrights had a team high 3 kills and 1 block in the set.

CSE came off the matt in the 3rd set, again a tight back and forth set, until the Eagles were able to muster a mini 4-0 run midway through the set to take a 3 point lead at 13-10.  Although the Gophers were able to get to within one point at numerous times for the remainder of the set, the Eagles were able to get the crucial point to keep the Gophers at bay.  CSE closed out the set 25-23, led by the Cooper sisters' (Amy and Katie) 7 kills.  Zuleima Molina and Rachel Hausler added key aces late in the set to solidify the set victory.

The momentum shifted yet again in the fourth set, with the Gophers dominant early and never looking back.  The Eagles' miscues killed any opportunity the team had to take the fourth set as the Gophers wrapped up the set 25-12.

Much like the match against Culinary last week, the Eagles bounced back from a terrible performance in the key 4th set to post their best effort of the match in the 5th.  Although the Gophers were flying high after their dominant 4th set victory, the Eagles were unrelenting from the service line in the 5th and grounded the Gopher attack with tough, precise serving.  Although the Gophers jumped out to a 3-0 lead, an Eagle time-out settled the team and they played even with the Gophers over the next 6 points (6-3 Goucher).  CSE went on a 5-1 run then behind 2 kills by Captain Kareemah Muhammad and 1 kill by Subhana Wrights as Nashlly Sokoli's serving kept the Gophers off balance to take the lead at the midway point 8-7.

The set and match hung in the balance as the teams traded points and were deadlocked at 11 in the late stages of the match.  However, the Eagle serving had been perfect while the Gophers were committing key errors behind the service line.  One such error keyed a 4-0 burst by the Eagles to seal the set and match.  Katie Cooper put down a kill, Subhana Wrights and Ireyiah Stevens had a key block and Rachel Hausler served up an ace to follow a Gopher service error to spark the 4-0 run that closed out the set and match.

The win improves the record to 3 Wins and 2 Losses. The Eagles next host Bryn Athyn, Thursday, 9/13, at 7pm in a rematch of this past Saturday's match.