Lady Eagles Continue Solid Play in Missouri

BELTON, MO – The Emmaus Lady Eagles ended their weekend in Missouri with a pair of sweeps in MCCC play.

Friday's matchup was with a notably bolstered Ozark Christian College squad in Joplin, MO.  The Lady Ambassadors presented strong swinging and height at the net, and the match started with the teams trading points as they worked to find each other's strengths and weaknesses.  Emmaus was ultimately able to pull away in each set, and took the match by scores of 25-14, 25-13, and 25-11 while hitting .300 as a team.

On Saturday the Lady Eagles started the trek back north with a stop in Belton, MO to face off with the Lady Warriors of Calvary University.  Emmaus was eager and mentally prepared to play, but faced a slow start as the Lady Warriors played extremely aggressive ball in set one, pressing the Lady Eagles to fight for each point.  After an Emmaus timeout with the score knotted at 23, the Lady Eagles were able to earn two points to seal the first set.  Sets two and three were a different story as Emmaus found their offensive and defensive grooves, winning with scores of 25-9 and 25-11 to seal the match.

"Overall this was a very positive and fun time for our team," commented Coach Pitman.  "Ozark is a much improved team over last season, and Calvary was extremely tenacious in their play.  I appreciated our ladies in a number of ways over the weekend.  They remained confident in each other even when things weren't going well, and it is so great to see everyone bought into our mission of how we will purpose to play outside of the scoreboard.  I also was very pleased with our versatility – after set one against Calvary we decided to make some adjustments in our play and strategy.  It is awesome to have a team with active minds for the game, and it is also great to have one that can come together and implement those changes on the court."

"We have loved all the fan support this year, and while I am pleased with our success on the scoreboard so far, our group knows there is a ton of work left to do and we are setting our minds toward it.  We are striving to improve every day, and to be prepared to face adversity as it comes."

The Lady Eagles are excited to have three solid practices this week before meeting their next opponents, a luxury that they have not had in a while.  Emmaus will take on Manhattan Christian College on Friday night at home; the Lady Thunder currently stand at #8 in the NCCAA National Rankings.  Emmaus then then travels to Ankeny, IA on Saturday for a neutral site MCCC match with a strong Barclay College squad.