Hawks defeat Johnson and Wales, Embry-Riddle Saturday

EL CAJON ,– After suffering the tough season-opening loss to Johnson and Wales in five sets, the San Diego Christian Women’s Volleyball team swept the Wildcats in Game 1 and defeated Embry-Riddle in five sets to go 2-0 for the day.

With the wins, the Hawks improve to 2-1 on the season.

Although SDC took every set against JWU, they were all close as the Hawks won by no more than five points.

In Game 1, SDC led from start to finish hitting a .310 percentage, tallying 15 kills in the set. Their biggest lead came late into the set at 23-15 with an Alli Beezer kill. Molly Witzmann capped off the set with a kill off an Ashlyn Riding pass.

The Wildcats took a brief lead, 5-3, in Game 2, as the closely contested battle was tied 10 times. Juliana Gutknecht tallied a kill for point 21 and the Hawks went on to score the last five of six points.

Game 3 saw the Hawks hit their best percentage of the game at a .500 clip. SDC had 15 kills and only three hitting errors. But even with the high percentage, the Hawks had to hold of JWU. The Wildcats were up by as much as four, 15-11. SDC went on a 7-3 run to tie the last set 18-18 before taking control and winning the match.

Alexa Lambert led the team with 12 kills and Riding contributed 29 assists. The Hawks showed their length again registering 12 blocks. Witzmann and Jeyci Kaili both had three.

Playing Embry-Riddle for the first time this season, the Hawks had to play catch up after the third set.

The Eagles ran out to an 11-5 lead and would continue to lead throughout the first set. The Hawks made it close, trailing 20-19 but Embry-Riddle finished on a 5-2 run to capture the set.

After the Eagles took point one of set two, SDC led the rest of the way with a .252 hitting percentage. A Beezer kill a hitting error by the Eagles and a Lambert kill won the Hawks set two for the last three points.

Dropping their third set made set four that much more important in the game. The Hawks were more than up to the challenge being up by as much as 10, 20-10. A Beezer ace sealed the deal and forced the fifth and deciding set.

The Hawks received a little bit of good fortune as their first seven points of the set came off hitting or setting errors from Embry-Riddle. Lambert tallied the first point with a kill giving the Hawks an 8-5 lead. SDC finished the match on an 8-4 run.

Gutknecht led SDC with 14 kills in Game 2 with Beezer right behind her at 12. Riding had another 40+ assist match totaling 41.

SDC will travel to Phoenix to play Arizona Christian in a non-conference match before heading to Mesa, Ariz. To take on Benedictine for two games on Sept. 5.