WATERBURY, Conn. –  Playing without graduate outside hitter Kristina Peric, who missed Wednesday night's match, freshman outside hitter Elyana Ortiz led Post University Women's Volleyball with a team-high 14 kills on 42 attempts with a .214 attack percentage, helping the Eagles overcome a first-set loss to Felician University at home to win in four sets, 3-1, and move to 6-0 in conference play. 

As of right now, the Eagles currently lead the CACC North Division by two games over the University of Bridgeport, who they own the tiebreaker against as of right now, and currently sit at 4-2 with a one-game lead on the Golden Falcons, who dropped to 3-3 with the loss. 

THE BASICS

Post University 3, Felician University 1

Post University (15-3, 6-0 CACC)

Felician University (6-13, 3-3 CACC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Peric, who leads the team in attacking as well as the nation, was unable to play in Wednesday night's match, requiring a host of Eagles to step up in her absence to lead the offensive against the Golden Falcons, with the result being six different Post players recording at least one kill and 10 finishing in double digits. In addition to Ortiz's season-best 14 kills, junior middle blocker Nuri Shahid-Stevenson had a career-high 12 kills, as did junior middle blocker Vivien Andrea Fehervari with 11 kills for an Eagle team that attacked at a .172 clip for the match, while holding the Golden Falcons to a .036 attack over four sets. 

The best set for Felician would be their first set, which they won 25-21, in which they had a set-best 14 kills with a game-low six errors for a .242 attack percentage. In comparison, two of the next three sets would see the Golden Falcons attack at a negative percentage and commit 29 errors along the way. When all was set and done, Felician finished the evening with 35 attack errors and a .036 attack percentage to go along with an additional five errors via blocks and sets for an overall total of 40 for the match. On the other side, Post had only 22 attack errors and 23 errors overall, committing a singular set error, while attacking at .172 for the match.

Like Felician, the opening set would be the best for Post's offensive attack with a .323 attack percentage in the loss, while never reaching the .200 mark over the next three sets, which they won, 28-26, 25-21, and 25-12. In all for the match, there would be 23 ties and 12 lead changes, with over half of those in each category coming in the second set, which had 13 ties and nine lead changes after the Eagles held off the Golden Falcons rally from down 24-22 to tie the set and force it into an eventual 26 all tie before Ortiz's kill and an attack error from sophomore outside hitter Sandra Galas gave Post the set.

While a set-defining 5-0 run helped give the Eagles some breathing room in set three to win it 25-21, the match-ending blow in set four came with Post only ahead by two points, 14-12. Ending the match on an 11-0 run, Ortiz served up two service aces and a kill, while Galas committed three attack errors for Felician as an 11-0 run for the Eagles sealed the deal on the four-set win, 3-1, with a 25-12 victory in the fourth set.

In addition to the big games from Ortiz, Nuri Shahid-Stevenson, and Andrea Fehervari, senior libero Alyssa Groves had a team-high 25 digs, while graduate setter Alice DiFrancesco extended her double-double streak to eight games with her 35-assist, 19-dig performance. Galas led Felician with 13 kills but had 12 errors on her 47 attempts, resulting in a -.021 attack percentage, but also nearly recording a triple-double after having those 13 kills to add to her 16 digs and eight service aces.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Sitting at 2,283 career digs after tonight's match, Alyssa Groves is only 250 digs away from surpassing Chestnut Hill College's Regina Trabosh for the most digs in CACC history, with 2,533 career digs from 2013-16
• Between her time at AIC and Post University, Alice DiFrancesco entered the match with 1,866 career assists, with 35 assists tonight, she moves to 134 assists away from 2,000 in her career
• Sandra Gales nearly missed a triple-double for Felician University after having 16 digs, 12 kills, and eight service aces in the loss
• Three players for Post University had season highs in kills, with Elyana Ortiz connecting on 14 kills, Nuri Shahid-Stevenson recording 12 kills, and Vivien Andrea Fehervari with 11 kills on the win against Felician University

WHO'S NEXT
Post University heads on the road for the weekend to take on Jefferson University this Saturday at 12:00 PM in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Eagles snapped a nine-game losing streak against the Rams last season in the Drubner Center when they overcame a 2-0 deficit to win the final three sets, winning 3-2, in five sets.