It was a tough weekend for the volleyball team as a weekend that they thought would test them turned out to be a lesson learned. The Eagles had three straight games from Friday to Sunday and came away empty handed. The only bright side is that the team can learn from their faults this past weekend and hope to improve from them.

Grand Valley State

The Eagles came out strong in the first set against Grand Valley, and even took the set 25-23, but from there the team just couldn’t hold it together and lost the next three sets to lose the match 3-1 (25-23, 23-25, 15-25, 24-26).

In the first set, AU was doing well until the Lakers came back to take their first lead 18-17, but the Eagles responded by scoring the next four points. GVSU responded too, tying up the game at 22 before Ashland took the set by scoring the next three points.

The second set was just as tight, with the Eagles leading the set 21-20 at one point. Grand Valley wouldn’t go down though and closed in with a 23-22 lead. Junior Crystal Elliott got a kill down to tie it at 23, but the Lakers weren’t losing this one and scored the next two to win the set.

The third set was just a disaster for Ashland as they just couldn’t get much going in the hit department, posting a measly negative-.048 percent for the match. The team couldn’t get anything to go their way in the set, as well as the Lakers just building on their rally doomed the Eagles.

The fourth set belonged to the Lakers once again as they held the lead the entire match until match point when the Eagles, down 24-20, came back to tie it up. Then, facing another match point, the Eagles committed a costly error to seal the match.

For the match, senior Anesia Benton led the team in kills with 11, followed by freshman Alyx Crislip and Kathy Fletcher who had nine and six kills respectively. Elliott notched her sixth double-double of the season with 38 assists and 10 digs. Senior Arian Martin had a season high 25 digs.

Ferris State

The Ashland Eagles wanted to rebound from the GVSU game with a win, but No. 11 Ferris State had other plans in what ended up being a straight-set sweep of Ashland. The Eagles were beat with scores of 24-26, 17-25, 25-27. It was the second time all season that the Eagles lost two games in a row.

AU never led in the first set, but had the game tied briefly before FSU went on a five point scoring streak. Then, once again facing set point with the score 24-20, the Eagles scored the next four to tie it up. Ferris State shook it off though and got the next two kills to take the first set.

The Bulldogs (15-1, 11-1 GLIAC) took an early lead in the second set and never looked back on route to the 25-17 win in the second set.

The third set was a grueling contest in which there were nine lead changes and 14 ties. The Eagles even led it late, 23-21, but the Bulldogs scored the next three to regain the lead at 24-23 and force the match point. Two errors by FSU then gave the Eagles a chance at set point, but two kills and a block took the set and the match in favor of Ferris State and sent the Eagles to their second loss in two days.

Senior Anesia Benton had a great game, hitting a season high .727 percentage on 16 kills on 22 attempts with no errors. Other than Benton though, the Eagles got seven and five kills from sophomore Susie Jonas and junior Crystal Elliott. Elliott also had 27 assists and five digs on the match. Senior Arian Martin once again led the team in digs with 13.

Saginaw Valley State

For the first time all season, Ashland lost three games in a row with their three set loss to SVSU (20-25, 23-25, 17-25). The loss dropped the Eagles to a 9-6 record after starting off really hot. The team also dropped their GLIAC record to 7-4.

After being the first to score in the first set, the Cardinals took over and never lost the lead in the first set on their way to a 25-20 set win.

Early in the second set the Eagles looked sharp on their game, going up 11-2 on SVSU. Saginaw Valley responded with a scoring run of their own to cut the lead to 14-13. After two more Ashland points, the Cardinals responded with a 7-1 run to regain control of the set and take it from there.

The Cardinals opened up with an 8-1 lead to start the third set, and the Eagles never got within four from there.

Senior Arian Martin led the team in digs with 10. Four Eagles had six kills or more, sophomore Baley Bernthisel, freshman Kathy Fletcher, and senior Anesia Benton also all hit over .400 for the match. Junior Brittany Snider led the team with nine kills. Junior Crystal Elliott had 32 assists for the match.

With three straight losses, the Eagles lost a huge chance at being ranked for the first time this season. Now they need to dig themselves out of this hole and once again prove that they are a team that can contend. It won’t be easy though, as the Eagles face their next five games on the road. It’s a long journey towards the post season still, and the Eagles have a lot of work to do. It’s just a matter of time to see how they come out of it in the end.