After a longer road trip on the weekend, the 24th ranked Eastern Volleyball took their shortest road trip of the year as they drove across Eagle Rd. to face off against the Cavaliers of Cabrini College in a non-conference matchup Thursday evening. The Eagles came away with a 3-1 victory to extend their match win streak to three games.
Eastern came out dominant in the first two sets of the evening and downed the host Cavaliers 25-15 and 25-18. They found a steady offensive rhythm in the opening sets with 29 total kills. The Eagles' offense sputtered in the third set. They put 15 balls down, but errors and an inspired effort from the Cavalier defense resultd in a sub-par .196 team hitting percentage. Cabrini held off a late Eastern charge to earn the third set win.
The Eagles bounced back in the fourth set with a .390 hitting percentage and 18 kills. Strong service from Mary Poole propelled the Eagles in the final set. The Eagles jumped to an 8-0 lead out of thegate.
For the match, the Cavaliers were able to keep the Eastern blocking defense off balance, and the defense off the net had to pick up balls. Four Eastern players reached double digits in digs. Eastern also stepped up their serving game, as five Eagles combined for 12 aces.
The Eagles, who according to the coaching staff, have been focusing on establishing a strong serving game this year put the Cavaliers under pressure all evening with an array of jump serves. Poole's service in the final game kept the Cavaliers out of system and allowed the Eagles to stay on the attack.
Coach Birtwistle said of the match, "There were times this evening where we lost focus and didn't compete. Our challenge will be learning how to compete and keeping that intensity throughout the entire match."
Sophomore All-American Maria Horning finished with 52 assists, and fellow All-American Courtney Reinhold picked up 20 kills. Rachel Wenger and Bridget Carey both hit a high percentage and picked up 14 and 10 kills respectively.
Eastern returns to action at home on Wednesday, September 16 at 7:00 PM against DeSales University. The Freedom Conference opener is a rematch of the 2008 Freedom Conference Championship match.
Box Score
