PHILADELPHIA, Penn. – A hot Post University Women's Volleyball team that entered the day winners in six of their last seven matches was cooled off by Holy Family University on Saturday afternoon, suffering their first conference defeat in a straight three-set sweep against the Tigers. For Holy Family, it was their first conference win of the season as they entered the day 0-2 in conference play while the Eagles no longer remain undefeated against conference opponents, sitting at 3-1 on the season now. 

THE BASICS

Post University 0, Holy Family University 3

Post University (8-7, 3-1 CACC)

Holy Family University (4-11, 1-2 CACC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Late runs in the first two sets would be the name of the game for Holy Family who found themselves trailing the Eagles who seemed to have momentum on their side in each of those instances. Out of the gate in set one, Post leaped out to a 9-3 lead before a 4-0 run quickly diminished that but was then responded to with a 4-0 run of their own to regain that six-point edge. Still ahead by four, three Post errors in a set that saw them have seven total errors aided in allowing the Tigers back into the set, and with the score tied at 23, a service error by senior outside hitter Tamara Radovanov and kill from junior middle hitter Shelby Kinzer allowed Holy Family to win the set, 25-23.

Set two was Holy Family's time to leap out of the gate quickly as a 10-4 start, which featured a 5-0 run with the help of three Post errors and two kills from junior middle hitter Ava KIdd before Post found their footing. Graduate outside hitter Kristina Peric helped kick off a 6-1 stretch for the Eagles who got within one, 11-10, before eventually taking their first lead of the set at 15-14 as part of a 4-0 run featuring two kills from Radovanov to go ahead three, 17-14. Graduate outside hitter Sara Enright's kill to give Post the lead, 21-20, would be the last point of the set for the Eagles as a 4-0 run by the Tigers gave them set two, 25-21, moving them within one of the win. 

Like with set one, it was the Eagles who took control early on, but never led by more than three points which came at the 12-9 mark just before a 5-0 run by Holy Family which gave them the lead for good. Leading 14-12, Post would get within one point of tying twice, but was unable to overcome that hump, and exchanging points back and forth down the stretch helped the Tigers cross the finish line with a 25-22 set win and a 3-0 sweep to hand the Eagles their first conference loss of the season. 

Both teams nearly had the same number of errors in the match with the Tigers having 18 errors compared to 17 errors for the Eagles but Kidd's impressive 11-kill performance with a .409 attack percentage helped pace the Holy Family offense. Senior setter Morgan Steck had a game-high 29 assists for the Tigers and freshman libero Cadence Palmer led all players with 15 digs in the match. 

Enright led Post with nine kills followed slightly behind by Peric with eight as both players had under .200 attacking percentages in the match. Junior libero Alyssa Groves continued to inch closer to history with 15 more digs while senior setter Maria Fernanda Branco had 19 assists. 

BY THE NUMBERS

• When Post University's attack percentage is above .200 for an entire match, they remain 6-0 this season – When the Eagles attack below .200 as a team, they are 2-9 overall, Post attacked at a .143 clip this afternoon against Holy Family 
• Alyssa Groves finished with 15 digs in today's match putting her at 1,433 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
• This is only the second time this season in which Post University has been swept in a match -- Last season, the Eagles were swept 14 times in 32 matches 
• The three-set sweep is the second in the last three years for Holy Family University against Post University -- The Tigers have won six of the last seven matchups since 2018 against the Eagles 

 
WHO'S NEXT
Post University returns home briefly for a matchup against the 2023 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Champion University of Bridgeport at the Drubner Center on Tuesday night at 6:00 PM. In the all-time series, the Eagles are 1-18 against the Purple Knights with that one win coming on October 25th, 2022, in four sets. In the last three matches between the two teams, the Eagles have lost in four sets twice and been swept once.