After winning two matches in a row, the Golden Eagles volleyball team took to the road to participate in the USCAA Tip Off Tournament on the campus of Penn State Beaver in Monaca, PA, on Friday afternoon.

Playing in their third road match in four matches, the Eagles took flight early in a 25-14 opening set win over the host Lions. Beaver came right back to take the second set 25-22 staving off a navy and gold comeback at the end.

In the third stanza, the Eagles soared to a 7-1 lead which they built to 17-6 and 19-8 cushions. However, the Lions roared back to within 22-19, but would get no closer than the final score of 25-23. It was PSB that would get the upper hand in what would become the final set of the match, as they jumped to a 12-6 lead.

KSU Tusc then outscored the Lions 5-1 to climb back into the set at 13-11 and subsequently tied things at 14-14. The Golden Eagles took the lead for good, 22-17, and had to hold off a Lions charge that closed the gap to 22-21. With the score, 24-23, a solid dig at the net by Alicia Cannon helped save the day because it led to a wide shot on a Beaver return to end the match in a 25-23 Eagles victory.

In their second match of the day, the Golden Eagles faced off against Christendom College and fell behind early. They clawed all the way back to take their first lead of the first set, 19-18, and increased the margin to 23-20 before a Crusader timeout to reset themselves.

Christendom fought back to 23-22, but with Nicole Simons holding service the Eagles would score a 25-22 victory on the neutral court for a 1-0 match lead.

The second set started just like the first set with the Eagles falling behind early. Trailing 7-1, they managed climb to within 8-5 before forcing a tie at 9-9 and finally taking a 12-9 lead. Then the Crusaders took control with a 20-16 lead and holding off the Eagles who closed the gap to 22-20 before taking the last three points of the set to win 25-20 and tie the match at 1-1.

Leading 8-3 in the third set, the serving was pretty darn good. After four straight Christendom points, Nicole Simons responded with four service points of her own to right the Eagles ship for a 12-7 lead. Lizzy Keller followed with five straight and Taliyah Johnson served up four winners for KSU Tusc, who built a 23-15 lead for the Eagles who led by as much as eight points in the set while winning 25-18.

In what would be the fourth and final set, the Eagles continued to impress by leading early 7-3 and then springing back after falling behind 12-9. The set would feature five ties, one of them coming on three straight service points by Lindsey Seibert, who then vaulted the Eagles into a 14-12 with her fifth point.

The Crusaders would not go away though and liberated themselves from the deficit into a 14-14 tie. That deadlock however, was short-lived as Lizzy Keller served up seven straight winners spotting KSU Tusc to a 21-14 lead. They won the set 25-17 to closed out two 3-1 match wins for the tournament.

With the victories the Golden Eagles (4-1) have won four straight matches after losing their opening match of the season. They return to play in the semi finals of the USCAA Tip Off Tournament on Saturday at noon against Carlow University.