PHILADELPHIA, Penn. – Over the last couple of weeks, Post University Women's Volleyball has not had to face too much pushback from their opponents in conference play. Entering their match today against Chestnut Hill College, the Eagles had won their previous four matches by sweeps with all but two sets being decided by less than two points.

However, Sunday would be a test for Post against a Griffins team on the road that entered the day winners in eight of their last nine matches with five sweeps along the way. In a closely contested matchup for both sides, it would be the Eagles narrowly continuing their winning ways with a five-set win over Chestnut Hill, 3-2, moving to 9-1 in conference play and maintaining their three-game lead on the CACC North Division over the University of Bridgeport with six conference matches to go.

THE BASICS

Post University 3, Chestnut Hill College 2

Post University (14-8, 9-1 CACC)

Chestnut Hill College (13-7, 7-4 CACC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
In this one, it looked like the Eagles would have their fifth straight sweep during the win streak, but the Griffins had other ideas in mind. Post opened the match up in a big way attacking at .312 in the first set with 17 kills and just two errors comparably to Chestnut Hill at 13 kills and a .120 attack percentage with seven errors. The lead for the Eagles stretched to as many as seven points to open things up before runs of 5-0 and 3-0 shrunk the lead down to one on two occasions before graduate outside hitter Kristina Peric converted on two kills to help Post capture the set, 25-22.

Wire-to-wire domination in set two put the Eagles on the brink of a three-set win as with the set tied at five all, senior middle hitter Hannah Brandt kicked off an 8-0 run for Post that featured five consecutive attack errors from Chestnut Hill. That lead would be all the Eagles needed to take the set in which they led by as many as 10 points twice to coast to a 25-18 set win. The set also marked the worst frame of the day for the Griffins with 13 errors and a -.114 attack percentage before they began to clean things up while working their way back into the match. 

From the jump in set three, it looked like Chestnut Hill would be able to force a fourth set as they went ahead by five early, 9-4, forcing a Post timeout which spurred an 8-1 run that gave them their first and only lead of the set, 12-10. Six straight points in response for the Griffins gave them the lead for good while the Eagles did tie things up four times, including at 25 after staving off defeat before sophomore outside hitter Rachel Mace finished things off. 

In the early going of set four, it was Post's turn to take control early, but they would be unable to sustain it throughout the set to capture the win. With the Eagles leading 6-4, senior outside hitter Erika Dubosky manufactured back-to-back kills to tie the set at six all as the set slowly turned in favor of the Griffins in part to a match-high 10 errors for Post who attacked at .000 in a set they lost 25-18 to send things to a decisive fifth set. 

This season, Post was 2-3 in matches that went five sets but pulled even with their victory today as a 5-1 start propelled them to a dominant 15-7 set win and 3-2 victory in the match to extend their winning streak to five. Finishing with a double-double today was Peric having 20 kills along with a .265 attack percentage and 17 digs to lead the team while junior libero Alyssa Groves put herself on the verge of program history after her 34 digs today. As it stands, Groves is just 70 digs from tying the all-time record for most digs in a career entering a stretch of three games at home for the Eagles.

Senior setter Maria Fernanda Branco tallied up a team-high 21 assists and was followed closely by graduate setter Izabella Rae at 19 assists which helped set up three Post players who reached double-digit kills in Peric, Brandt (11 kills), and graduate outside hitter Sara Enright (12 kills). Graduate setter Mia Caporellie had 46 assists and 12 digs in the loss for Chestnut Hill while Mace led her team with 19 kills and 24 digs on the day.

As a team, the Griffins committed 35 errors in the match leading to a .098 day attacking while the Eagles committed 22, but played a clean fifth and deciding set which saw them hit at .421 and raise their attack percentage to .199 overall for the match. 

BY THE NUMBERS

• The win over Chestnut Hill College marks just the second time since 2017 in which Post University has beaten the Griffins and first on the road since 2015 – Each of the previous four matchups between the two teams before today had been decided in three sets  
• Alyssa Groves finished with 33 digs in today's match, putting her at 1,619 in her career, she is currently second all-time in digs in program history chasing only Kerry Smith (2005-08) who owns the all-time record with 1,689 career digs
• When Post University's attack percentage is above .200 for an entire match, they remain10-0 this season – When the Eagles attack below .200 as a team, they are now 4-8 overall, Post attacked at a .199 clip this afternoon against Chestnut Hill College
• Post University's streak of four straight matches being won by sweeps was snapped with today's match going five sets as the Eagles remain tied for their most conference sweeps in a single season since 2022 with six

 
WHO'S NEXT
Post University gets ready for their longest homestand of the season with three games in a row at the Drubner Center starting on Wednesday night against Felician University at 6:00 PM. In their matchup earlier in the season, the Eagles dominated the Golden Falcons in three sets with wins of 25-3, 25-11, and 25-12 en route to their sweep and first conference win of the season.