Emmaus Victorious in All-Iowa Battle

DUBUQUE, IA – The Lady Eagles of Emmaus defeated the Lady Eagles of Faith Baptist Bible College (Ankeny, IA) tonight by a score of 3-1.  Both teams came well prepared for the match and battled point for point in set one.  With the score knotted at 23, Samantha Betz put down a kill and then followed up with an ace to give Faith the victory.

Set two saw Emmaus play with more consistent passing, and aggressive serving allowed the Lady Eagles of Dubuque to make some long runs.  Faith battled back at the end of the set but Emmaus was able to secure the victory with a 25-12 score.

In the third set the Lady Eagles of Ankeny made some adjustments and again the two teams battled point for point.  Tie scores were had at 13, 14, 15, 18 and 19 points.  Elizabeth Brame took to the serving line and put Emmaus up 23-19.  Faith battled back to make it 21-23, but a kill from Hannah Snow and an ace from Hannah Bell secured the set for Emmaus.

Faith came out attacking in set four, and Emmaus struggled with consistency as they gave up several points on errors.  Faith jumped out to a 7-3 lead, forcing a timeout by Emmaus.  With the score 9-3, Emmaus countered with their own run to close the gap and make it 8-9.  A 13-12 Faith's lead stretched into an 18-12 lead.  Emmaus tried to close the gap, but Faith applied the pressure and gained a 22-16 advantage.  With Savannah Petersen serving, Emmaus generated an amazing 9 point run and came back to win the set and the match 25-22, with Elizabeth Brame putting down the final kill.

"This was amazing teamwork and mental toughness by the ladies tonight," commented Coach Pitman.  "We are striving to play this type of volleyball, and it was encouraging to see us play to our potential for four straight sets.  Faith played a great match and I hope we both continue to make an impact in our conference for the rest of the season."

The Lady Eagles had strong contributions across the board in the victory.  Alli Howard put down a season high 15 kills and Hannah Bell also had a season high 41 assists.  Hannah Snow had 10 kills on the night, and Elizabeth Brame had 5 service aces.  Jenny Benson had her best night of the season to date with 7 kills.  Savannah Petersen had 25 digs, Rachel West had 21, and Vivienne Yates added 12.

Emmaus rises to 8-4 overall and 3-2 in the MCCC.  The Lady Eagles are back in action this weekend as they take on Loras College in an exhibition match on Friday, and rematch with Central Christian on Saturday.  Game times are 7:00 pm and 2:00 pm in the Pollard Fieldhouse.