The Edwardsburg volleyball team took the court against Dowagiac in search of its first home win this season Thursday.

The Eddies and Chieftains are Wolverine Conference rivals and Dowagiac was ahead of Edwardsburg in the league standings heading into the match.

Dowagiac opened the first set, serving to the Eddies, but it was Edwardsburg who would control the pace. The Eddies opened the night with nine straight points, causing Dowagiac to take a timeout, down 9-0.

The break helped the Chieftains, minimally. They scored the next point, but would surrender another five straight after that. The only bright spot in the first match for Dowagiac was senior, Annie Ennesser, who scored four of the team’s seven total points. Edwardsburg dominated, 25-7.

The second set was by far the most competitive. Dowagiac shook off the first set loss with great poise and never trailed in the second. The scoring went back-and-fourth for most of the match, with the teams being tied six different times and as late in the match as 16-16.

From their, the Chieftains reeled off four straight and Edwardsburg coach, Chrissy Breisch called a timeout to settle her squad. Edwardsburg was able to score a couple more points on some nice digs by senior Payton Szlanfucht (40 assists), but would fall 25-19.

The third set was an impressive, bounce-back win for the Eddies.

After riding out the Dowagiac momentum and the set being tied 7-7, Edwardsburg took control. Eddies’ sophomore, Audrey Bellina (17 kills) had a couple powerful spikes late in the seat that secured the win for the Eddies.

“It feels really good and there is no way I could do it without my team,” Bellina said of her big plays. “It makes me feel like I’m really a part of the team when I can come through like that.”

The fourth and what proved to be final set was competitive early on.

Dowagiac came out swinging, building an early 5-1 lead over the Eddies, but it was short lived. Edwardsburg roared back and tied the game 11-11. From there, they took control and never looked back.

The Chieftains would only score three more points in the win-or-go-home set and the Eddies would win, 25-14, and take the game, 3-1.

“It was a good win,” Breisch said. “Dowagiac is a conference opponent and the win makes us 2-3 in conference and brings us back to .500 on the season.”

 

EDWARDSBURG 3, DOWAGIAC 1

At Edwardsburg

Set Scores

Edwardsburg d. Dowagiac 25-7, 19-25, 25-19, 25-14

 

Edwardsburg Statistics

Kills

Audrey Bellina 17

Abbey Newberry 8

Kaylee Moore 8

 

Assists

Payton Szlanfucht 40

 

Aces

Natalie Longo 5

 

Digs

Kaylee Ryker 13

Emma Nelson 8