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.