ASTON, Pa. – The Neumann University Women's Volleyball team dropped a tough Atlantic East Conference match on Wednesday against Immaculata University by a count of three sets to two.
 
Melissa Eddy led the Knights offensive attack with 15 kills and five service aces. Bri Gautier and Julia Solomon added 12 kills each with Solomon picking five aces of her own. Kyla Carney shared the ball with 30 assists and Liv Bowers had 14. Defensively, Hannah Strohm starred with 21 digs. Taylor Long and Soleil-La'Jour Staggs finished with five total blocks each.
 
The early stages of the first set was a precursor of what would follow all evening as it stayed close all the way to a 9-9 score before Immaculata went on the night's first extended run of four points. Neumann would score the next three before they would go back to trading points. With Immaculata leading 21-19, the Knights would score the next four points for a 23-21 lead. Unfortunately for Neumann, the well dried up and the Mighty Macs went on their own 4-0 run for a 25-23 set win.
 
The second set was a little bit of a different story as Immaculata scored five of the first seven. With the score at 8-5, the teams would trade four point runs to make it 12-9. The Mighty Macs extended to 17-11before the Knights put up a late fight to pull withing two at 17-15. At 20-16, Neumann took the lead with the night's first five-point run. They'd maintain that edge, leading 23-22 but Immaculata again finished strong for another 25-23 win.
 
With their backs against the wall, the Neumann fell behind in the third, trailing 8-6. The Knights followed with their biggest push of the match, scoring nine in a row for the 15-8 lead. Another four-point run made it 19-10 before the teams traded points for a 25-15 win for Neumann.
 
In the fourth, Immaculata took a 3-2 lead, but Neumann scored five in a row, giving them a 7-3 lead. Another 4-0 run had the Knights up 12-6. The Mighty Macs pushed back with an 11-5 run to tie the set at 17. Neumann scored eight of the last nine points, including the last six to force a fifth and deciding set.
 
The Knights scored the first two points of the ultimate set, but Immaculata went on a 7-2 run. Neumann fought right back with four consecutive points to take an 8-7. From there, neither team went on a run of longer than two points until the end of the set. With Neumann up 15-14. The Mighty Macs took the last three points to win the set and the match.
 
Neumann (13-13, 4-2 Atlantic East) will return to action in the final matches of the season on Saturday when they visit Marymount University for a tri-match which includes Sweet Briar College. The action starts at 12:00 PM.