The Eagles played in the Mizuno Midwest Region Volleyball Crossover and won two of their three matches.

Ashland took on the University of Indianapolis on Friday. This was the third time that AU played Indianapolis and it is the third time that the Eagles walked away with the victory.

The Eagles defeated U-Indy in the Clarion University Tony Banner Memorial (3-1) and on their court in the University of Indianapolis Tournament (3-0). This time around, Ashland won in straight sets (25-16, 25-17, 25-21).

“When we played well, we played extremely well,” said head coach Cass Dixon. “There weren’t a lot of teams that could contest us when we were playing at our level.”

Junior Alli Cudworth and senior Samantha Zuber were the team leaders in kills in the match with 14 and 10 respectively. Freshman Kaitlin Bean had an impressive day posting a career high in digs with 19.

Truman State University was Ashland’s next opponent. The Eagles had a slow start to the game, losing the first two sets 25-19 and 25-22. 

AU then battled back, winning a close third set 26-24 and taking the fourth set 25-18.

It all came down to the fifth and final set. Late in the match the score was tied at 15, meaning the next team to get their lead to two would win the game.

Truman would get the next point on a service ace to take the 16-15 lead. Match point.

Ashland kept the door open with Junior Rylee Scott getting the kill to tie it up at 16. 

Truman responded with another kill to gain the lead again. Match point.

The next serve ended with a controversial error called against AU. Truman wins the set 18-16 and takes the match.

“That one still weighs on the mind. There was a pretty crucial play at (the end). We thought we did the right thing, but we didn’t get the call,” said Dixon. “That was tough. For it to end that way, it was definitely disappointing.”

Two Eagles had double-doubles with Cudworth having 22 kills and 14 digs and Senior Casey Clark contributing 16 kills and 12 digs.  Bean also had 19 digs for the second game in a row.

It was a tough game for the Eagles, and they found themselves in the same situation less than 24 hours later.

Ashland played McKendree University the next day and lost the first two sets 27-25 and 25-17 and won the next two 25-23 and 25-18.

For the second day in a row, AU came back from a two match deficit to force a fifth set. This time, the Eagles were able to capitalize and win the set 15-9.

“I don’t think there are many teams out there that could be in a situation one day and then the exact same situation the following day and be able to mature enough to learn from that situation and not let it happen again,” said Dixon. “I give a lot of credit to my players. They did a phenomenal job of taking the experience that they had and using it the next day.”

The leader in kills for the Eagles was Cudworth with 22. Cudworth’s performance in the tournament was good enough for her to be named to the All-Tournament team. 

Zuber and Clark also had double-digit kills 15 and 13. Clark tied Bean for the lead in digs with 16.

Dixon enjoyed how her team was able to battle and believes it is great for the team going forward.  

“To know when we play well, we can beat just about anybody. If we have a rocky start, or falter at times, we still have enough heart that we can keep plugging away and come out winners in the end.”

The Eagles will be on the road this weekend, playing at Saginaw Valley State on Friday and at Wayne State on      Saturday.