Volleyball aces midterm weekend

On Friday night the stands in McComb Fieldhouse filled up for the women’s volleyball match against Lock Haven University. In the end, the Fighting Scots would take the victory 3-1. 

After this match, Edinboro moved to 12-10 overall and 5-7 in the PSAC. Lock Haven would fall to 8-13 overall and 3-9 in the PSAC.

Edinboro won the first two sets with scores ending in 25-15 and 25-14. Lock Haven came back and got the win in the third set, 25-20, but Edinboro would then get their third game win, 25-19, and take the match.

Edinboro led in total kills over Lock Haven, 53-36, and in total aces for this game, 9-2. The Fighting Scots also led in assists with a total of 49, 42 of which came from freshman Alicia Eldredge.

McComb Fieldhouse filled up once again on Saturday night for the volleyball team’s second match of the weekend. This pitted them against Bloomsburg, who Edinboro would defeat in a 3-0 sweep. After this match, Edinboro moved to 13-10 overall and 6-7 in the PSAC, and the Huskies would move to 5-17 overall and 1-12 in the PSAC.

This match was significant for the Fighting Scots as it was the team’s annual cancer awareness game. During the game, the team wore white jerseys with pink numbering on them rather than their usual red and white. Libero Molly Breier wore a pink jersey with black numbering on it. Each of the team’s players wore black shoes with neon pink laces, matched with a pink ribbon tied in their hair.

Edinboro got out to an early lead in the first set of the match, and in the end, gained the win 25-15. After again gaining the first point of the second set, ‘Boro got another strong lead against the Huskies and ended with the win in a 25-16 score. Bloomsburg came out with a change of pace in the third set and got the first point. The score would be tied several times during this set, but ‘Boro would get a quick run to end the game, 25-20, and win the overall match.

“It’s always good to get the win and it really motivates you for the next day because you want to continue it on and continue to do well,” stated sophomore Cierah Jackson after Saturday’s match.

After this weekend, many of the underclassmen of this team are leading in categories for the season. Sophomore Molly Breier leads in digs with 266 and freshman Sally Sterkel leads in blocks with a total of 62. Jackson leads in kills with a total of 258. Eldredge — who is the only team member in the top five of every one of these categories — leads in both assists (731) and aces (36). 

“I just want to keep doing well for my coaches and the rest of the team,” stated Jackson. “I set personal goals for myself — goals that I want to [accomplish] for my entire four years — and I just want to continue to do that for myself, because I feel like I can.

She concluded, “I want to be my best every time I step up out on the court.”

The win for Edinboro was the first time the two teams had met this season, as well as historically. Bloomsburg announced on March 7, 2017, that they would add a women’s volleyball team for the fall 2018 season. Accordingly, the team is comprised entirely of underclassmen except for a junior, senior and redshirt senior.

Edinboro travels to their last two away matches of the regular PSAC season this weekend. On Friday they travel to the University of Pittsburgh - Johnstown for a 7 p.m. start time. On Saturday, the team will travel to Shippensburg University for an early afternoon game with a tip-off time of 1 p.m. The team will return home on Tuesday to face off against Slippery Rock University at 6 p.m.

Madi Gross can be reached at sports.spectator@gmail.com.

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