Winter Park, Fla. – Rollins defeated the Embry-Riddle Eagles for the first time since 2017 on Tuesday night inside Warden Arena, outlasting ERAU in a tight five-set battle (25–21, 27–25, 23–25, 18–25, 15–10).
The Eagles came out hot, jumping ahead 5–1 to open the match. Cameron Grange sparked the Tars' response, helping Rollins claw back within striking distance before a four-point run, highlighted by a pair of Emma Gongora kills, gave the Tars their first lead. From there, the back-and-forth began, with neither side finding separation until a service error from ERAU set up back-to-back kills from Marta Tsaneva and Grange to close out set one.
Set two opened just as tight, foreshadowing the 15 ties and seven lead changes to come. Tied 14–14, Grange delivered another timely kill, followed by an Embry-Riddle error and a Morgan Coughlin ace to push the Tars ahead by three. A 5–1 Eagles surge flipped the momentum, but back-to-back kills from seniors Tsaneva and Makayla Moran on set point extended the frame long enough for Grange to finish it off and give Rollins the 2–0 lead.
The Eagles responded in the third, jumping ahead by five and keeping Rollins in chase mode for most of the set. Moran and Gongora sparked a late four-point run to even the score at 23, but ERAU closed the final two points to force a fourth. The Eagles controlled that set from the start, maintaining pressure and extending their lead until they secured the frame and pushed the match to a decisive fifth.
Embry-Riddle opened the final set with four straight points, prompting a Rollins timeout. The Tars answered immediately with a four-point run of their own, fueled by kills from Tsaneva and Gongora. A statement block from Willow Barron tied the score at 5–5, and a red card issued to the ERAU bench handed Rollins the lead. The Eagles briefly reclaimed the advantage, but the Tars closed the door with a dominant 7–1 run, featuring key swings from Moran and Tsaneva at the net and serves by Jenna Garza and Grange at the line, to seal the match.
Gongora led all hitters with 18 kills, followed closely by Grange's 17 on an impressive .412 clip. Tsaneva also reached double figures. Molly Morris and Garza anchored the offense with over 20 assists apiece. Moran commanded the net defensively with five total blocks (one solo, four assists), while in the back row, Sarah Seabrooke paced the Tars with 23 digs.
Rollins improves to 16–15 overall and 5–13 in SSC play, while Embry-Riddle drops to 15–13 (8–10 SSC). The Tars return to Warden Arena on Friday, Nov. 21, for a 7 p.m. matchup against Nova Southeastern.
