Coming off a five-game win streak, the Elon University women’s volleyball team took to the court Friday night looking to continue their dominant play.
After a five-set thriller, the Phoenix defeated the Midshipmen of the Naval Academy (20-25, 15-25, 27-25, 25-23, 15-9). Elon erased a two-set deficit in the match, leading to their sixth straight victory.
“Navy had the confidence on their side and we just looked like we were taking the back seat,” said head coach Mary Tendler. “We just told them to push. We put a little different line up in starting mid-set three and moved some people around and that was something that was effective.”
“I think it shows our team has a lot of grit,” said senior outside Sydney Busa. “Our team wasn’t going to give up or give in. It was a really good team victory for us tonight and we keep winning on our home court so that’s always good.”
Busa finished the night with 18 kills and 23 digs.
Elon has won all three of the previous matchups against Navy dating back to 2006. This was the first game of a three-game series the Phoenix will play this weekend. The Tussle in the Triad tournament will feature two games tomorrow beginning at 11 a.m.
“It will definitely be hard,” Busa said about the quick turnaround. “We are playing UNCG and they are always a fun game and a fun rival. We will have that fight in us so I think that’s how we will do it.”
“We are hoping to keep up our win streak,” said freshman setter Kodi Garcia. She finished the night with 47 assists and 11 digs. “Continue playing hard like the same fight we had at the end [of the match] and just work hard the rest of the weekend going into conference play.”
The Phoenix continues tournament play tomorrow, as Elon welcomes University of North Carolina at Greensboro Spartans to Alumni Gym at 11 a.m. before taking to the road in the afternoon and making the short trip to High Point University. The second game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.
“I was just so proud of our team for doing the fight they showed up tonight,” Tendler said. “Even if they lost the match, it was just an awesome change from the beginning of the match. So I was just so proud.”