Box Score (vs. North Central)
Box Score (vs. Elmhurst)

NAPERVILLE, Ill. – In their final tune-up before the Northern Athletics Conference Tournament next week, the Edgewood College volleyball team played in the highly competitive Benedictine University Invitational. The Eagles dropped their first match to North Central College 3-1 before facing 17th ranked Elmhurst University. Edgewood College hung with the Blue Jays for the first set, but ultimately fell 3-0.

In the first set against North Central (18-16), the Cardinals clung to a 9-8 lead before going on a run. The Cardinals scored nine of the next 12 points to take control of the set. The Eagles cut their deficit to 22-17, but the Cardinals scored the final three points to take the set 25-17.

North Central jumped ahead again in the second set and held a 13-8, forcing Edgewood College to call timeout. The Eagles quickly responded with a 6-1 run to tie the set at 14, forcing a Cardinal timeout. Mallory Palmer recorded three of her five kills in the set on the run. Edgewood College scored four straight points to extend their lead to 22-17, and Jessica Martin gave the Eagles the 25-21 set victory with a kill.

However, the Cardinals responded by scoring the first four points of the third set. They gained a 13-5 lead before the Eagles called for a timeout. Trailing 23-9, the Eagles tried to comeback, scoring six straight points, but it wasn't enough as the Cardinals took the set 25-15. Edgewood College held a 13-10 advantage in the fourth set, only to see the Cardinals comeback and tie the set at 14. North Central then took the lead and extended to five points, en route to the 25-22 victory to take the match.

Palmer led the Eagles with 13 kills and 16 digs for the double-double. Martin recorded eight kills while Lindsey Swansby posted 34 assists.

It didn't get any easier for the Eagles (18-13) as they squared off with the nation's 17th ranked team, Elmhurst. Martin brought the Eagles within a point at 9-8 in the first set, before the Blue Jays began to pull away. Elmhurst scored six straight points to take a 16-8 lead. The Eagle deficit swelled to 22-13 before Martin sparked a rally with back-to-back kills. Sam Himmelspach followed those kills with three straight aces to cut the deficit to 22-18. Kills by Martin and Palmer brought the Eagles to within three, but Elmhurst scored the final point to take the set 25-21.

The Blue Jay offense was just getting warmed up as they hit a blistering .542 in the second set. Elmhurst did not make an attack error on 24 attempts with 13 kills in the 25-7 set victory. The Blue Jays used runs of 7-0 and 6-0 to take control of the second set. Elmhurst jumped ahead early in the third set, taking a quick 10-4 lead. They extended their lead to 20-9 and took the sweep with the 25-13 set victory.

Elmhurst hit whopping .444 in the victory while holding the Eagles to an attack percentage of .065. Palmer and Martin led the Eagles with eight and seven kills, respectively. Swansby posted team-highs with 22 assists and 10 digs in the loss. Palmer was also named to the all-tournament team after posting 21 kills and 20 digs in the two matches.

The third seeded Eagles will host sixth seed Concordia University Chicago in the quarterfinals of the NAC Tournament on Tuesday night. Edgewood College will provide both live stats and live video for the 7:00 p.m. start.