ALLENDALE, Mich. – The Eagles traveled from Connecticut to Michigan to compete in the Hampton Inn and Suites Grand Rapids Downtown Classic this weekend, opening tournament play with losses to tournament host, #20 Grand Valley State University, 0-3, and Slippery Rock University, 0-3.
GAME ONE:
THE BASICS
Post 0, GVSU 3
Post: 1-4
GVSU: 5-1
HOW IT HAPPENED
The new-look Eagles allowed the Lakers to build off strings of scoring runs in the first set, an early-season trend that negatively affected them last weekend in the Long Island Invitational Tournament. The Eagles' first kill of the game came from freshman outside hitter, Lilly Chavez, who erupted for 11- and 15-kill games last weekend.
Led by Paige Sanders, the Lakers opened an eight-point lead before Post called timeout down 4-12. Temporarily neutralized by the timeout, Sanders committed an attack error immediately thereafter, only to regain possession for her team the very next play with a kill. At 9-23 in the set, Eagles Head Coach Tiffany Verni called another timeout, and this time immediately out of the timeout, Canadian transfer Kelsea Moore had a kill, but the Lakers had already done too much damage with 18 kills in the set compared to the Eagles' four. The Eagles dropped the set, 12-25.
In set two, Post looked to equalize their chances, but beginning with two attack errors before freshman, Abi Thie got the Eagles their first point of a fresh set. The Lakers then went on a 4-0 run due to Post errors and their own kills, but Thie, not backing down easily, smashed down another kill. Post, keeping it neck-and-neck, then gave up a 6-0 run to put Grand Valley State up, 16-8, before sophomore Elyana Ortiz subbed in the game and showcased her strong hitting abilities immediately with a kill. The rest of the set saw back-and-forth action as each team traded kills and attack errors until eventually the Lakers finished the set, 25-18.
Down 0-2, the Eagles continued to allow small runs of three, four and five to start set three. The Lakers, determined to finish strong, served aces and attacked aggressively to put themselves ahead 13-6. The Eagles ended up with more attack attempts than the Lakers in the third set for the first and only time today at a differential of 26-21, but only converted eight of their attempts into kills, compared to 13 GVSU kills. The Lakers finished the set 25-14 and won the match 3-0, hitting at an effective .348 clip.
GAME TWO:
THE BASICS
Post 0, Slippery Rock 3
Post: 1-5
Slippery Rock: 3-3
HOW IT HAPPENED
Slippery Rock opened the match jumping to a 20-8 lead thanks to seven kills from Ava Haynes and the erroneous set one Eagles. The Lions had 13 kills in the first set, which would only get worse for the Eagles.
Unhappy with the first set's provisions, the second was still in Post's reach as they were behind 20-22 after keeping the score close the whole time. Freshmen Abi Thie and Lilly Chavez swung aggressively, adding to their team's 11 set kills, and sophomore transfer Mariah Leyva found herself rapidly approaching 20 kills in the game. The Eagles attempted 41 attacks in the set, converting on just 0.171 attempts – their highest rate of the game – while the Rock had 20 kills on an attack percentage of .0348, which was also their best of the match.
Hoping to leave GVSU Fieldhouse Arena with at least one set win on the day, Post needed to find the urgency to start converting on attacks in the third set to stay alive in the game. Instead, Slippery Rock surged ahead to a quick 14-4 lead, dimming the light at the end of the tunnel for the Eagles. Marley Annis had five kills in the set for the Lions, while Chavez and Thie continued swinging, combining for five kills of their own, and their other teammates added just two more. Of 33 total set three attacks, Post converted on –0.03%.
WHO'S NEXT
Post faced two brand new opponents on day one of the Hampton Inn and Suites Grand Rapids Downtown Classic, coming up short in both. Tomorrow, the fresh-look Eagles will return to the same stage to face off against Seton Hill University (Pa.) at 10 a.m. and Northwood University at 1 p.m., again facing two programs they've never played before.
