SAN ANTONIO--Eastern Volleyball split both days at the Trinity University Invitational this weekend. On Saturday, the Eagles fell to Southwestern University in four sets and then defeated Springfield College in three sets.
Eastern returns home from Texas with a 24-4 record. Stephanie Elechko was named to the All-Tournament Team with 46 kills over four matches.
Lauren Sproles led the Eagles with 26 kills over the two matches. Katrina Pisch added a total of 21 kills, Stephanie Elechko 20 kills and Kearby Benak 17. Rylie Haas recorded 60 digs Saturday and Rikki Schlager passed out 86 assists.
Against Southwestern, the Eagles jumped to a 17-6 lead over the Pirates and finished off the first set 25-15. In the second set, the Eagles had the lead from the first point until 10-10, and then gained it right back and pulled to a 23-18 lead. The Pirates took a time out and then scored seven consecutive points to steal the set away from the Eagles. The Pirates won the set 25-23. Southwestern's Kaitlyn Foster had three kills in those final seven points. She led the Pirates with 15 kills in the match.
Eastern trailed for the entirety of the third set. The Pirates held a 17-8 lead over the Eagles, but the Eagles scored four straight kills to creep closer. The Pirates reached set-point at 24-20, but Stephanie Elechko killed two more attacks to Eagles alive. An attack error gave the Pirates the third set 25-22.
The fourth set proved to be similar to the third, with Eastern trailing for most of the set. Elechko again tallied a kill with the Pirates at match-point 24-22, but it was Kaitlyn Foster finishing the match with her 15th kill on the next point.
In the second match of the day, the Eagles took care of the Springfield College Pride 25-15, 25-23, 25-21. The Pride entered the match with the second best hitting percentage in the country, but the Eagles held them to .185 for the match. Eastern hit .299. Katrina Pisch was back to her astronomical hitting, finishing 12 kills on 17 attempts (.706). Amy Guarino added nine kills on 17 attacks with one error (.471).
The second set against Springfield was a back-and-forth battle. The Eagles slipped behind in the middle of the set but rallied to tie the game at 19-19. Eastern gained the lead at 21-20 with a Pisch kill. Springfield tied the game back up at 22-22 and then again at 23-23, but Benak and Elechko finished off the set with kills. The Eagles had the lead from the first point in the third set and did not relinquish it.
The Eagles host FDU on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
vs. Southwestern Box Score
vs. Springfield Box Score
