CSE TOO STRONG FOR STEELS

The Eagles entered their last match of opening weekend looking to get their 3^rd victory of the 2013 season against the Steels of The Culinary Institute.  The Steels and the Eagles had split their last 2 matches with the the Steels taking the 2011 matchup at St. Joe’s 3-1 and the Eagles surviving a marathon 5 set victory in 2012

3-2 (17-15).  The 3^rd matchup between the schools wasn’t that dramatic but it was entertaining as the Eagles won the match by a 3-1 margin (25-9, 23-25, 25-13, 25-16).

Set 1 was totally dominated by the Eagles.  CSE raced out to a 7-1 lead behind the serving of the Cooper sisters (Amy and Katie).  The Eagles kept the pressure on and ballooned the lead to 19-6 in route to a 25-9 set victory punctuated by a Katie Cooper ace.

In set 2 the Steels took charge early racing out to a 15-5 lead as their serving had the Eagles committing unforced errors on offense. The Steels maintained that 10 point cushion through most of the set.

But the characteristic that has defined this Eagle squad since 2012 has been their grit and never give up attitude.  The Eagles slowly started to chip away at the enormous deficit as they trailed 23-14.  Nicole Morera led the charge with a kill and an ace to cut the deficit down to 23-17 before a service error brought the Eagles to the brink (24-17).  Kiana Cunningham’s kill got the ball back and Amanda Inacio proceeded to serve 5 service points –including 1 ace- to bring the Eagles to within 1 at 23-24.  However, a block by the Steel defense ended the rally and the set at 23-25.

The rally swung the momentum the Eagles’ way though and CSE pounded out 24 kills, 8 aces, 1 block and dug up 27 digs to take the last 2 sets 25-13, 25-16 as Culinary could only muster 15 kills and 2 aces over the last 2 sets.  Newcomers Kiana Cunningham and Nicole Morera led the Eagles’ surge with 14 of the team’s 24 kills in the last 2 sets.  The team hit for 8 aces and only 1 error in 49 attempts in sets 3 and 4 to keep the pressure on the Steels.

Amy Cooper dished out 32 assists to 5 different hitters and added 2 kills, an ace and a block to guide a very effective offense versus the Steels.  Kareemah Muhammad, Nicole Morera and Kiana Cunningham tallied 30 of the team’s 41 kills and hit .219 combined.

The Eagles hit the road on Thursday, September 5^th against the Bloodhounds of John Jay College and Saturday the 7^th to Bryn Athyn for a tri-match against Bryn Athyn and Bryn Mawr.

SCREAMING EAGLES SOAR OVER LIONS

In the 3^rd match of the opening weekend, CSE hosted The King’s College (NY) as the Eagles looked to put their first loss of the season behind them. CSE took the match in 3 sets (25-19, 25-16, and 25-13) to pick up their 2^nd win of the season.

A fairly even start to the 1^st set saw the Eagles and the Lions tied at 10 near the midway point of the set.  Kills by Ireyah Stevens, Subhana Wrights and Nicole Morera sparked a 5-0 run that gave CSE a lead they would not relinquish. Late kills by Morera and Stevens later on in the match pushed a CSE lead of 21-16 and later 23-19 to a set closing 25-19 victory.

CSE took control early of set #2 as Amy Cooper hit for an ace and Subhana Wrights got a key kill to spark the Eagles to a 5-1 early lead.  The lead expanded to 10-2 behind solid team defense and key serving by Nicole Morera who kept the Lions off-balance.  The Eagles never looked back and the closest the Lions came from that point was 23-16. Kiana Cunningham put down a kill at 24-16 to give the Eagles a 2-0 set lead.

CSE jumped out to a 7-3 lead with a Subhana Wrights kill but the Lions crawled back to within 3 at 9-6.  The Eagles expanded the lead to 12-6 behind kills by Nicole Morera and Ayesha Brannon but the Lions again made a run to close within 3 at 14-11.  The Eagles responded with a 6-2 run sparked by kills from Morera, Cunningham and Kareemah Muhammad.  With the match firmly in control, the Eagles pushed for the set and match win which the team earned behind another kill by Nicole Morera.

Subhana Wrights led the squad with 11 kills and jit a team leading .556 in the process.  Nicole Morera was close behind with 10 kills and teammate Kiana Cunningham hit .500 with 8 kills to pace the Eagle offense which hit for a .386 with 41 kills to only 9 errors.

SCREAMING EAGLES’ RALLY FALLS SHORT VS. THE GATORS OF NOTRE DAME

CSE won the first set but dropped the next 2 to College of Notre Dame to fall behind 2-1.  After taking the 4^th set, the Eagles bid for a 2^nd comeback victory fell shot 15-13 in the 5^th set (25-22, 17-25, 25-27, 25-19, 13-15). The Eagles have now split the last 2 meetings with the Gators, last year winning at Notre Dame by a 3-1 tally.

The 5^th set did not start well for the Eagles as the Gators opened a quick 3 point lead but the set evolved into a tight affair as the Eagles tied it at 3-3 and 5-5.  At this key juncture of the match, 2 kills by the Gators and 1 passing error by the Eagles opened a 3 point cushion again for the College of Notre Dame.  The lead grew to 10-6 after a kill by the Gators.  CSE crawled back to within 3 again at 8-11 but a key service error gave the momentum back to the Gators at 12-8 that promptly grew to 13-8 after a right side kill by Notre Dame.   A few points later, down 14-10 and facing 4 match points, CSE mounted another furious charge to snatch victory away from the Gators.

Nicole Morera had a kill and the Eagle block forced 2 hitting errors as the Eagles clung to hope down only 1 at 13-14 but a free ball passing error ended the run and the match for the Eagles at 13-15.

Subhana Wrights led the way for the Eagles with 12 kills and 5 blocks.  Nicole Morera added 11 kills, 13 digs and 4 aces.  Amy Cooper spread out 29 assists and had a team leading 6 aces and 14 digs.  Katie Cooper had 12 digs anchoring the backline and Ireyah Stevens was again a factor at the net with 5 blocks. 

The Eagles will try to get back to their winning ways when the team faces the Steels of the Culinary Institute and the Lions of The King’s College (NY) on Saturday, 8/31 at 1pm and 3pm.  

SCREAMING EAGLES OPEN 2013 CAMPAIGN WITH COME FROM BEHIND VICTORY

New Jersey City University won the first two sets, but the College of St. Elizabeth rallied to force a fifth set and the Screaming Eagles won in extended points, 3-2 (18-25, 22-25, 25-13, 25-18, 17-15) in the 2013 women's volleyball season opener for both programs on August 30.  CSE has now won the last 3 matches versus the Gothic Knights, the last 2 in 5 sets.

In a fifth set that saw seven ties, including 9-9 and 11-11, and three lead changes, NJCU led 14-12 after a pair of kills by the Gothic Knights for the 13^th and 14^th points. The Eagles survived a pair of match points to tie it at 14-14.

NJCU buried another kill for a third match point and a 15-14 advantage. But CSE received back-to-back kills from Nicole Morera and Kareema Muhammad to claim a 16-15 lead and sealed a 17-15 win when Katie Cooper landed her fifth ace of the night on the Eagles' first match point to end the 2:10 contest.

The Eagles were led by rookies Nicole Morera and Kiana Cunningham with 12 kills and 11 kills repectively.  Senior Captain Amy Cooper dished out 28 assists while putting down 4 aces. Junior MB Ireyah Stevens had 6 blocks and teammate Katie Cooper (L) led the team with 5 aces and 19 digs.