MIAMI SHORES, Fla. -- It's not quite clear whether these Saturday afternoon matches are destined for drama or not, but the Buccaneers will take them either way.
In the second straight Saturday matinee inside the Health & Sports Center, Barry University's volleyball team pulled out a five-set win -- this one an 18-25, 25-22, 16-25, 25-17, 15-12 comeback over future Sunshine State Conference member Embry-Riddle. Barry (6-5) improved to 3-1 in five-set matches this season. The Buccaneers beat Eckerd in five two Saturdays ago in the HSC.
Bucs sophomore hitter
Eva Raat had a career-high 19 kills, hit .389 and had five blocks, and Barry won the battle at the net against a 10-win Eagles team. The Buccaneers outblocked Embry-Riddle, 13-6. It was the biggest block differential of the season for Barry, which racked up a season-best 24 block assists. The 24 block assists are tied for ninth in school single-match history.
Knotted 1-1 in the match, Embry-Riddle (10-5) coasted to a 19-11 lead in the third set when Evelina Abdurakhmanova put away one of her 17 kills. The Eagles won six of the final 11 points, and converted 81 percent of their sideout chances to move within a set of closing it out. But Barry responded in the fourth set, firing out to an 18-8 lead, never relinquishing control and not allowing the Eagles to draw even. Barry hit .194 in the fourth set, while Embry-Riddle struggled to a negative .071 attack rate, its lowest of the match.
Barry overcame a 6-4 deficit in the fifth set, evening the decider at 6-6 when Raat slammed down one of
Jenny Trinidad's 22 assists. The Eagles used a kill by Abdurakhmanova and a Bucs attack error to go back up two, 8-6. They maintained a two-point cushion on Ana Pajic's 19th kill, and bumped the lead to 12-10 on Amanda Saunders' ace. But the Buccaneers went on a tear down the stretch, using a
Katie Dooley kill, a combination block by
Laine Cielena and
Ivana Didanovic, a kill by Didanovic, a kill by Cielena and a match-punctuating kill by Didanovic in a five-point Bucs surge to put the match on ice.
Didanovic had seven block assists and eight kills,
Kaitlin Drake 13 kills and 11 digs,
Brittany Jaco 26 digs and eight assists,
Jasmine Serna 22 assists and 14 digs, and Dooley six kills and five blocks. Tasmires Ferreira had 44 assists, and Sumerr Paxton 28 digs for the Eagles, who matched the Bucs with 55 kills and 52 assists. All 12 Bucs played in the win.
Barry is seeded sixth in the South Region, and is expected learn of its opponents later tonight for next weekend's South-Southeast Region Crossover in Carrollton, Georgia.
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