BLOOMFIELD, N.J. -- The last time Post University Women's Volleyball squared off against Bloomfield College, the Eagles swept their Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference opponent out of the Drubner Center in straight sets. A month later, the Bears would turn the tables on Post in their own building, coming back from a 2-1 set deficit to hand the Eagles their seventh straight loss and 10th straight five-set loss with a 3-2 victory on Wednesday night. 

THE BASICS

Post University 2, Bloomfield College 3 

Post University (2-16, 2-5 CACC)
Bloomfield College (2-8, 2-6 CACC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Winning their fourth consecutive set against Bloomfield, Post University would use a pair of 3-0 leads to take control of set one, 9-6. That three-point advantage would only shrink below that margin once more after an attack error by sophomore libero Alyssa Groves made it 12-10. A kill by junior outside hitter Caley Harper gave the Eagles their largest lead of the set by seven points, 20-13, before the Bears capitalized on two Post errors to start a 3-0 run that the Eagles would end up matching to help them run away with the first set, 25-18.

With both teams exchanging the first four sets, the Bears would take their two by a razor-thin margin, both by scores of 25-23. Three attack errors in set two helped spur Bloomfield to a 5-0 run that saw them jump ahead 7-4 before the Eagles rallied for a 3-0 run a little while later behind kills from sophomore outside hitter Kaitlyn Sharkey and junior setter Colleen Romero as well as a service ace by senior setter Izabella Rae to take a 10-9 lead. Once again the Bears punched back with another 5-0 run and never relinquished the lead again as Post would tie on three different occasions including 23 all before back-to-back errors by Harper sunk the set.

Dominance was the name of the game for the Eagles in set three as they leaped out to a 6-0 lead as four Bloomfield errors would come back to haunt them. The Bears would never be able to regain their footing in the set as Post opened up a lead that stretched to as many as eight points on eight different occasions before a brief 3-0 stretch off the back of three Eagle errors got Bloomfield within four, 23-19, which would be the closest they would climb before junior middle hitter Hannah Brandt's kill and an attack error from senior setter Lauryn Hansford gave Post a 2-1 lead in the match with their 25-19 win. 


Despite a 25-23 win again in set four for Bloomfield, it looked like Post would take control of the set in several moments of the match starting with a trio of kills from Romero, Rae, and Brandt as well as an attack error led to a 4-0 run that put the Eagles ahead, 15-11, but the Bears would respond with the same exact run to tie it back up. Five of the next six points would go in favor of Post, seeing them open up a 20-16 lead moving them closer to a big win, but again Bloomfield responded. Off the back of a 5-0 run to regain the lead and then with the match tied at 22, the Bears would lay down the hammer by winning three of the last four points ending in a kill from junior outside hitter Ronaya Moore to send the match to a decisive fifth set. 

Seven lead changes and nine ties would define the fifth and final set as neither side would lead by more than two points. With the deciding set tied at 13 all, the Bears completed their comeback following a game-tying kill from Brandt as Moore matched it with a kill of her own, and then an attack error from Harper sealed the deal on the evening as Bloomfield came from behind to defeat the Eagles in five sets, 3-2, following a 15-13 fifth-set win. 

BY THE NUMBERS

• Caley Harper has now recorded 11 consecutive double-digit kill games after closing the match with 17 kills and now has six matches this year with double-digit digs -- the kill streak ties Madelynn Boop for most consecutive games with double-digit kills 
• Izabella Rae recorded a season-high 29 assists while tallying her eighth straight match with double-digit assists and fourth straight match with 20-plus assists 
• Hannah Brandt was 13-for-26 attacking with only two errors, finishing the day with a .423 hitting percentage 
• Post University has now lost their last 11 matches going five sets, last taking a five-set victory on September 24th, 2021 against Dominican (N.Y.)

WHO'S NEXT
The Eagles prepare for a tri-match Saturday at the Drubner Center when they welcome Holy Family University for a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference matchup at 1:00 PM before playing Bentley University at 5:00 PM in the afternoon. The two Eagle opponents will square off against each other at 3:00 PM.