 |  |
#5 CNU Overpowers #8 Eastern in Exciting 3-2 Victory; Advance to NCAA Sweet 16
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The Captains of Christopher Newport
University advance to the NCAA Sweet 16 for the second time in
program history as they defeated the Eastern University Eagles 3-2.
The Captains will face Randolph-Macon College tomorrow at 2:00pm in
the final match of the Newport News, Va. NCAA Regional.
The Eagles jumped out to a 6-1 lead over the Captains in the first
set but the Captains were able to pull within one at 7-8 and
eventually tied the match with four straight points at 16-16. The
two teams swapped points tying the game seven more times before a
kill by Caitlyn Jansen (Lorton, Va.) sealed the
victory for the Captains 29-27.
The Eagles took the early lead in the second set as well getting
up 9-5 before the Captains came back to tie the score at 9-9.
Points went back and forth with the Eagles pulling away by as much
as three before CNU took the lead at 22-21 with a kill from
Jessie Heavenrich (Cambria, Calif.). After an
Eastern timeout the Eagles scored four straight with a kill from
Courtney Reinhold (Adamstown, Pa.) ending the set
and tying the match at one win apiece.
The first few points went back and forth in the third set with
Eagles not pulling away until the end of the set with two
three-point runs giving them the 25-20 win.
The Captains and Eagles battled for every point in fourth set with
the Eagles getting up by four with the score 10-6. The Captains
called a timeout and won the next three points pulling to within
one before Eastern called a timeout. Eastern was able to get up by
five but the Captains inched back to tie the set at 19-19. With the
score 23-22 in favor of the Captains freshman Lindsay
Stephens (Lorton, Va.) stepped up to serve for the
Captains and a kill by Elder brought the Captains to within one
point of tying the match. The next point went to the Eagles with a
kill from Maria Horning (Denver, Pa.) but another
kill by Elder ended the set and tied the match for the
Captains.
The Captains took a 3-1 lead but the Eagles quickly tied the score
at three apiece. The Captains stayed composed and regained the lead
scoring two quick points on a service error by the Eagles and a
kill by Chelsea McClure (Montclair, Va.). The
Eagles came back to tie the score at five on a service error by the
Captains and then a kill by Kearby Benak (Houston,
Texas). But after another Eagles service error the Captains went
ahead and maintained the lead for the rest of the set winning
15-9.
The Captains improve to 37-2 on the year with one of their losses
coming from Eastern during a match in October in St. David’s,
Pa.
Jansen led the Captains with 21 kills and 10 blocks, both
career-high performances. Heavenrich had a career-high 58 assists
while adding 14 digs. Abby Hogge (Clifton, Va.)
had a career-high 32 digs for the Captains. Bailey
Jensen (Ashburn, Va.) and Kara Elder
(Charlottesville, Va.) both set career records with eight blocks in
the match. The 36 block assists tonight broke the current team
record of 23 in a match set in 1984.
The Eagles were led by Reinhold with 29 kills followed by Benak
and Horning with 12 each. Horning also led in assists with 51.
Madison Goldbach (Redondo Beach, Calif.) service
aces while Kelly Groff (Audubon, Pa.) led with 33
digs. Reinhold put up four blocks for the Eagles with one being a
solo block.
SET SCORES
1
2
3
4 5
CNU
29 22 20
25 15
EU
27 25
25 23 9
Box
Score (PDF)
Box
Score (html)
