Eagles Survive Scare, Down Patriots in Five

St. Catharine, KY – Asbury almost let a victory slip from their hands on Tuesday night against St. Catharine, but held on for a 3-2 victory.  The Eagles took the first two sets 25-21, 25-20 before the Patriots forced a fifth set with 25-22, and 28-26 sets three and four, Asbury took the fifth set easily 15-4.

Asbury (2-0) bounced back with a solid team attack percentage of .173, that’s a nice upgrade from their first match where they hit only .089.  Juniors Lindsay Ibold and Dena Busse led the team with 13 and 11 kills respectively.  Once again the Eagles used a balanced attack as six players had five kills or more and more than 20 attacks.

The two setter system tallied 43 of the team’s 45 assists on the night as freshman Mackenzie Burke registered 22 and senior Emily Andrews totaled 21. 

Asbury starts the year 2-0 for the third time in a six year span, the last time in 2008 the Eagles tied a team record with 27 wins and made their first trip to the NAIA National Tournament.

Asbury will host Union (Ky.) on Thursday at 7:00 pm in their home opener.  The Eagles lost to the Bulldogs in straight sets in their only meeting last year.