Emmaus Continues to Work Hard in Conference Play

DUBUQUE, IA – The Lady Eagles secured two more conference victories this weekend with wins over Manhattan Christian College (Manhattan, KS) and Barclay College (Haviland, KS).

In Friday night's matchup on their home floor, Emmaus brought strong serving and ball control to the court, as they were able to make several extended runs on the Lady Thunder.  The match featured strong play at the net by both opponents, but the Lady Eagles were able to take the game in straight sets (25-14, 25-17, 25-14).

"This was a nice win for us tonight; it is always great to play Manhattan who are a very strong and well coached program," commented Coach Pitman.  "It was encouraging to see us be able to execute our game plan – it is great to see the things we are focusing on in practice be put into action on the floor."

Due to a tight schedule in the MCCC, the Lady Eagles had to heed an early morning wakeup call on Saturday as they traveled to Ankeny to face off with the Lady Bears of Barclay.  Barclay came out swinging and Emmaus fell victim to a cold start in the first set, finding themselves down by a score of 1-7.  As the set wore on the Lady Eagles regained some form, but continued to struggle with errors, and the Lady Bears kept finding ways to disrupt their tempo.  With the score knotted at 23, Emmaus was able to earn two key points to take the set.

Sets two and three were a different story, as Emmaus found their groove and offensive firepower, taking the sets with scores of 25-8 and 25-16.

"While it was hard to get on the road for an early match right after a home match, we are still accountable for how we play," said Coach Pitman.  "We had a cold start, and even though we were mentally prepared our bodies were not.  I liked our resilience and problem solving today.  We were not at our best, but we found ways to put points on the board, and we did not falter in our unity or confidence.  We are striving to improve every day, and I thought we put up a good fight to earn the victory, which was another improvement in our mental game."

Emmaus will now close out MCCC regular season play as they travel back to Ankeny on Tuesday (Oct. 2).  The Lady Eagles will take on Faith Baptist Bible College at 6:00 pm.