WATERBURY, Conn. –  The winning streak continues for Post University Women's Volleyball as the Eagles survived a second-set scare against winless Southern New Hampshire University to earn their eighth consecutive win with a three-set sweep of the Penmen, 3-0, on Tuesday night in the Drubner Center, where they now hold an 11-0 record this year. 

THE BASICS

Post University 3, Southern New Hampshire University 0

Post University (21-3)

Southern New Hampshire University (0-24)

HOW IT HAPPENED
From the jump in set one, Post controlled the tone early on by winning 13 of the first 14 points, led by graduate outside hitter Kristina Peric's three kills as well as two kills from junior middle blocker Nuri Shahid-Stevenson. The largest lead of that set would set the Eagles go ahead by 14 points, 24-10, before a quick 2-0 run by the Penmen briefly cut down the lead before sophomore outside hitter Jordyn Carroll's attack error gave Post the first set, 25-12.

Unrelenting in set two, freshman outside hitter Sophie Chevalier, who led Southern New Hampshire with nine kills, started a 5-0 run that extended the Penmen's lead to a set-high six points, 12-6, before Post went on to capture nine of the next 11 points to regain the lead by one, 16-15. However, Chevalier would push the Eagles closer to the brink when her kill kicked off another quick 3-0 blitz to put the Penmen back ahead by two, 21-19. Still leading by one, 22-21, freshman outside hitter Elyana Ortiz sparked a set-winning 4-0 that was highlighted by three straight kills from Peric to complete the come-from-behind set win, 25-22, for Post, putting them one set away from their eighth straight win. 

Returning to their first-set form after falling behind by two, 5-3, the Eagles never relinquished the lead in the third set again following their 4-0 run, and used a 7-0 run while leading by four points, 13-9, to pull away for another 25-12 set victory, completing the three-set sweep in the Drubner Center on Tuesday night. As a team, Post recorded 12 service aces and a .242 attack percentage with only 12 errors, including just one error in the third set, while eight of those came in the second set alone. 

As she has all season on offense, Peric led with 16 kills on 43 attempts with only five errors leading to a .256 attack percentage as the only Eagle to reach double figures in kills. Sophomore middle blocker Alani Duncan attacked at a .364 clip with six kills and only two errors, while the defense contributed 16 total block assists, led by six from Nuri Shahid-Stevenson, and 43 digs led by senior libero Alyssa Groves with 17 digs. Graduate libero Meri Ibrahimi matched Groves' efforts for the Penmen with 17 digs of her own, followed by 12 digs from Chevalier in her double-double performance. 

BY THE NUMBERS

• Sitting at 2,407 career digs after tonight's match, Alyssa Groves is only 116 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
•  Nuri Shahid-Stevenson finished with six block assists, marking the fourth match this season in which she has recorded six block assists or more -- Shahid-Stevenson's season high currently sits at eight block assists against Georgian Court University back on October 11th
• Tonight's match marked the first time since 2015 in which both teams have squared off in the Drubner Center and the first time since 2021 that they faced each other in general -- Post University has won the last three head-to-head matchups and leads the all-time series now, 7-5
• At 21-3 this season, Post University is off to its best start since the 2016 season, in which they began the year with a 24-3 record before ending the season 26-6 -- That year also coincides with the only season the Eagles were undefeated at home, going a perfect 13-0, whereas this year they are currently 9-0 at home with four matches left following tonight's win 

WHO'S NEXT
The final four matches of the regular season for Post University will be in conference play starting on Thursday evening in the Drubner Center against the University of Bridgeport. The Eagles beat the Purple Knights in four sets on the road earlier in the season, and a win on Thursday would give them their first outright CACC North Division Regular Season Championship since 2018.