GETTYSBURG, Pa.--Eastern University Volleyball used solid passing and aggressive serving to open the year with a pair of wins at the Battlefield Classic at Gettysburg College. The No. 7 Eagles (2-0) topped Rivier College 3-1 in the season-opener for both squads, and blanked PSU-Altoona 3-0 in the second game. The second win of the day put the Eastern team on the precipice of a pair of milestones. With their next win, Head Coach Mark Birtwistle will earn his 500th career win. Additionally, the five members of Eastern's senior class are 99-12 over their 3+ years in maroon and white.
The Eagles opened the evening with a 25-12 win over Rivier. The Raiders rallied to take the second set 26-24, before the Eagles closed the match with 25-17 and 25-13 wins.
Birtwistle was impressed with the offensive firepower of the team from New Hampshire.
"They had a couple really strong hitters," he said, " so we had to do a better job getting them out of their system. We served aggressively, and once they were out of system we were able to get our offense going."
The Eagles put three hitters in double-figure kills for the first match. Courtney Reinhold and Lauren Sproles had 12 kills apiece and Kearby Benak finished with 11 kills. Sproles hit .429 in her first collegiate match. Reinhold recorded 14 digs and Benak had 15.
Birtwistle was pleased with the performance of his young players.
"Kearby did a real nice job figuring things out," he said. "She is playing all the way around this year, so there is a lot more for her to think about, but she is doing well with that. Lauren put down some big kills too."
Maria Horning, of course, was right in the middle of the action throughout. The 3-time All-American setter finished with 41 assists. Kelly Groff finished with a match-best 16 digs.
The Eagles rolled throughout the second match against Altoona with 12 aces and a .342 hitting percentage for the match. Eastern jumped out to a 25-7 win in the first set before taking the next two frames 25-15 and 25-17.
Birtwistle again looked to his team's serving as a pivotal stat. The Eagles finished the second match with only five errors and put the Lion passers under pressure throughout the match. Senior middle hitter Mary Poole was a beneficiary of that pressure. Poole recorded 9 kills on 14 swings.
Sproles led the way with 10 kills on 16 attempts, and Reinhold put away nine balls. The Eagles return to action in Gettysburg against Scranton tomorrow at noon before taking on the host Bullets at 2:00. Birtwistle, in his 22nd year as Eastern's head coach, is now 499-182 for his career.
