CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The Golden Eagles (12-14, 7-4 MEC) dropped a tough game against the Blue Knights of Urbana University (18-8 7-4 MEC) at home on Saturday morning. This loss dropped the Golden Eagles to fifth in the MEC standings. 
 
Just the Basics
SCORE- Charleston 1, Urbana 3
TEAM RECORDS - Charleston (12-14, 7-4 MEC), Urbana (18-8, 7-4 MEC)

How It Happened

The Golden Eagles looked ready for a dogfight on an early Saturday morning against the Urbana University Blue Knights. Points went back and forth in the first set as the two teams tied at fourth in the MEC looked to move up in the rankings. The Golden Eagles looked solid and played a smart first set allowing the Blue Knights to make errors and earn easy points. UC edged the Blue Knights by a score of 25-23. The final clutch block of the set came by the hands of Janeese Vervelde and Chloe Massaro. Carly Granger had 4 kills, Chloe Massaro had 10 assists and Kelsey Matusic played great defense and earned 8 digs in the set. 
The Golden Eagles headed into the second set with a 1-0 advantage in the match. The set began similarly to the first, with an early battle for points between the two teams. Urbana looked to be pulling away with a 13-9 advantage in the middle of the set, but the Golden Eagles battled and tied the set back at 13. Points were exchanged throughout the set, with no team able to pull ahead until Urbana won 6 points in a row to finish the set. The score was 25-21 in favor of Urbana. Hanna Delor and Lexi Reinert ended the set with 9 kills each. Janeese Vervelde ended the second set with 6 blocks on the day.
Tied going into the third set, the Golden Eagles looked to recover from their second set defeat. The set was a constant battle for the lead with neither team gaining favor. Charleston battled from a 12-9 deficit early and tied the set at 14. The Blue Knights offense proved to be too strong for the Golden Eagles as they rolled to another 25-21 victory in the third set. Tori Clark had 4 kills for Charleston, Hanna Delor had 6 for Urbana. Courtney Niesen and Kelsey Matusic led their teams with 25 and 20 kills respectively. 
The Golden Eagles got off to a shaky start going down 4-1 early in the fourth set. The Blue Knights dominated in the middle of the set. The Golden Eagle offense was never able to garner momentum as it seemed every attack was thwarted by the Blue Knight defense. The Golden Eagles showed some fight, coming to within 2 points late in the set. Although the late game rally was valiant, the Blue Knights won the final set by a score of 25-22. Jessica Sunnenberg had 5 kills in the set. Lexi Reinert led Urbana with 4 kills. 
 
 

 
UC Leaders
-Carly Granger led UC in kills with 10
-Chloe Massaro led the match in assists with 35
-Janeese Vervelde led both teams with 7 total blocks
-Kelsey Matusic led UC in digs with 25
 
Urbana Leaders
- Courtney Niesen led the game in both teams in digs with 31
- Hannah Delor led both teams in kills with 17

UP NEXT
The Golden Eagles will stay at home on October 23 vs Kentucky State. The live stats will be provided on https://ucgoldeneagles.com/sidearmstats/wvball/