Five years, 1,826 days and 55 matches. That is how long it has been since Embry Riddle had lost a volleyball match in the Cal Pac Conference. Until tonight. The Park University Gilbert volleyball team upset the 25th ranked volleyball team in the country in five sets 3-2 (25-23, 19-25, 25-18, 23-15, 15-13).
Despite the match going five sets, the Buccaneers controlled the play for most of the match with the exception of set two and a brief lapse at the end of the fourth set.
The Buccaneers (8-5. 7-2) won a tight first set with both teams exchanging the lead before the Buccaneers grabbed a couple key points at the end of the set to take a 25-23 win. The Bucs outhit the eagles 15-13 in kills and both teams hit .182 for the set.
The second set saw the Eagles (17-6, 9-1) return the favor, controlling play and put away 16 kills to only 12 for the Bucs and the Eagles hit an impressive .393 as the took the set comfortably 25-19.
The third set saw the Bucs answer with an impressive array of hitting posting 18 kills in the sets with only one error as they hit a gaudy .486.
Set four seemed to be more of the same, as the Bucs jumped ahead and seemed poised to close out the match in four sets. The Bucs were two points from the match at 23-21 when Embry Riddle raised the level of the game in one last desperate attempt to stave off their first loss in conference play in five years and they did, rattling of four consecutive points to take a 25-23 fourth set win.
It would have been easy for the Bucs to put their heads down, thinking they let one slip away. But they came back out with renewed vigor in the fifth set and the two top teams in the Cal Pac Arizona Division went back and forth for the first half of the fifth and final stanza of this volleyball concerto. At nine-all, the Buccaneers went on a 3-0 run to force an Eagles time out. But it would be too late as the Buccos would not relinquish the lead again. On match point, an Eagles attempt went wide right in front of the Buccaneer bench and that bench erupted in joy as the Bucs celebrated the first ever win in program history over a ranked opponent.
"I can't say enough about this team," said head coach Clay Webb. "They could have come out flat in the fifth set after the disappointment of losing the fourth set, but they still had a fire in them, and they did not waver."
Miranda Bacon returned to the form which saw her win Cal Pac Player of the Year last year as she had 17 kills with only two errors and hit .471. Middle blocker Elizabeth Clemit set a career high with 17 kills and she hit .389 as she only had three errors on the evening. One of the big keys for the Bucs in the game was their defense at the net and both Bacon and Clemit had their say in this regard posting six block assists each. Makenna Busse also had a herculean effort as she posted 13 kills, hit .345 and had nine total blocks (2 solo, 7 assisted). Setter Annika Wallace had her best night as a Buc, setting her career high for assists with 34 on the evening. Hattie Patton was outstanding in the back row once again with 26 digs.
Up next, the Buccaneers have a return match with Benedictine Mesa who they beat 3-1 in their last matchup in Septemeber. The match will take place Saturday, October 16 at 7 p.m. at the Coyote Center at Chandler-Gilbert Community College.
