New Haven, CT - The Post University women's volleyball team won its first match of the year, a 3-0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-19) over Molloy on Friday evening. The Eagles dropped their second match of the night, a tightly contested 3-1 (15-25, 28-26, 21-25, 21-25) loss to Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU).

The win over Molloy wasn't just the first win of the season, but also the first for first year head coach, Tiffany Verni.

Madelynn Boop made her season debut, leading the Eagles with nine kills to go along with three digs. Lydimar Soto had six kills and a team-high 16 digs. Aniya Goodman and Alyssa Groves each had four aces.

After falling behind 4-3 in the first set, the Eagles went on a 9-3 run to take a 13-7 lead, including five straight points, which included kills from Boop, Soto and Izabella Rae. Post never led by less than four the rest of the way, as on three occasions they led by as much as nine.

In set two, the Eagles took a tightly contested 9-8 set and ballooned the lead to 18-10. The Eagles led by as much as 24-14 before the Lions scored five straight. The Eagles would end the run and the set on a kill from Soto.

Set three saw the Eagles concede the first two points before ripping off a 12-2 run to take a 12-4 lead. Goodman had three consecutive aces during the run. Molloy would not get closer than four the rest of the way.

Maria Branco finished with 22 assists, a team-high, to go along with eight digs. Alyssa Groves had 15 digs and four aces.

In the second match of the evening against SCSU, the Eagles led 3-1 early in set one before the Owls scored six straight to take a 7-3 lead. With the Owls leading at 17-14, they scored six straight as they went on to win the first set.

In an exciting set two, the Eagles (1-5) fell behind 21-12, before going on a 13-3 run to take a 25-24 lead and stave off the Owls chances of going up two sets. During the run, Branco had two aces, while Zara McCauley and Soto each had two kills. The Owls went back up 26-25, but the Eagles scored three straight including a kill by McCauley to make it a 1-1 match. 

Post jumped out to a 5-0 lead in set three before the Owls scored five straight of their own to tie the set. With the Eagles up 9-7, the Owls scored six straight to take a 13-9 lead. Post fell behind 21-13 but again rallied to cut it to 24-21 before a kill by SCSU's Payton Reis gave the Owls a 2-1 match lead.

The Eagles led 17-13 in the fourth set before the Owls scored seven straight to make it a 20-17 game. Post battled back to tie the game on two kills from Kaitlyn Lemmon and aces from Branco and Santos to make it a 21-21 set. The Owls scored the final four points to take the match.

Soto led the Eagles with 14 kills and 19 digs. Branco had four aces and 19 assists. McCauley finished with eight kills and 14 digs. 

Up next, the Eagles start Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference play as they open up their home season as well, taking on the Caldwell Cougars at 7 p.m. at The Drubner Center on September 7.