Volleyball Drops Five-Set Battle on the Road to Keiser

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.- The Southeastern University volleyball team was step-for-step with the reigning Sun Conference Champion Keiser University Seahawks. However, the Fire fell just short in a five-set thriller on the road 3-2. The loss snapped a seven-game win streak for SEU.
 
The Fire asserted themselves with an impressive first set on the court, hitting .278 with just five attack errors and 15 kills in 36 attempts. Fire freshman Sandy Cao notched a third of her kills on the match in the first set, totaling nine. Cao's 27 kills on the day led all players and set a new single-game season/career-high for Sandy.
 
SEU was unable to hit as crisply in the second set as they did in the first, committing 12 attack errors in the session for a .152 hitting percentage. Despite the miscues, the Fire were extremely competitive in the set and had a set point with 26-25 lead late in the set. However, Keiser responded with a 3-0 run to close out the session 28-26.
 
Southeastern notched a game-high six blocks in the third set and pulled ahead early to an 11-4 advantage over Keiser. However, the Seahawks responded with an 8-2 run to trim the Fire lead to 13-12. The Fire managed to keep ahead of the Seahawks up until they held a 19-18 lead. From there, KU closed out the third session with a 7-2 run to take a 2-1 lead over SEU.
 
The fourth set was another wild back-and-forth affair, consisting of a total of 11 ties and eight lead changes. Freshman Kennedy Jones had a team-leading five kills and a service ace during the set. SEU fended off a late 7-2 run from Keiser which tied up the set 23-23. A kill from SEU freshman Emilia Harding and a KU attack error closed out the set 25-23 for the Fire to force a fifth set.
 
An early 8-3 deficit proved too much for the Fire to overcome in the final set. SEU was twice able to trim the KU lead to a margin of two, however, the Seahawks ultimately closed out the match with a 15-11 win in set five.
 
Cao also totaled 17 digs to go along with her 27 kills. Jones tied her season/career high in kills at 17. Freshman setter Alexandra Postlethwaite set a season/career high in assists at 54 for the Fire. Freshman libero set a new season/career high mark in digs at 29. Harding also set her new personal best in kills at 14.
 
Southeastern looks to bounce back in The Furnace this upcoming Wednesday night in another Sun Conference match. The Fire host Ave Maria at 7:00 p.m.