ST. DAVIDS, Pa. Eastern University Volleyball last lost a regular
season match in league play in 1999. The No. 12 Eagles kept their
extended conference winning streak alive with an efficient 3-0 win over
the visiting Misericordia University Cougars.
Head Coach Mark
Birtwistle elected to work on a couple different line-ups in the three
sets. Stephanie Elechko played right side in the opening set to give the
Eagles a big presence at the net as she teamed with Alicia Weigel and
in some rotations with Katrina Pisch. Elechko had just one kill in the
only set she played, but the first year standout had two bock assists
and was able to help thwart several Misericordia attacks en route to a
25-9 first set win.
The Cougars (8-12, 2-2) hit for a big
negative number against the big block in the first set, and Kearby Benak
put the visitors under considerable pressure with a strong run of
serves to open a 9-0 lead to start the set. Lauren Sproles had four of
her seven kills in the opening set as the Eagles had nine kills and only
two errors.
Birtwistle rested Pisch and Elechko in the second
set, and the Cougars kept balls alive on defense and were able to find
some holes to build an 11-7 lead in the early part of the set. Benak
stepped back to serve with the Eagles trailing 12-11. The senior star
again put pressure on the Cougars with a variety of serves. Benak served
the Eagles to an 18-12 lead before being subbed off the floor. The
Eagles eventually built a 22-15 lead in the set before the Cougars put a
late run together to close the final margin in the set to 24-21 before
Benak tallied her fifth and final kill of the set to close the action.
Benak, the reigning Freedom Conference Player of the Year, finished with a match-best nine kills and seven digs.
Eastern
ran out to an 11-4 lead in the final set and closed out the match with
eight of the final ten points for a 25-12 margin. The Eagles, who have
never lost a set in conference play since joining the Freedom Conference
in 2008, hit .284 in the match with eight aces. Rylie Haas finished
with 15 digs and Rikki Schlager had 32 assists.
Shelby Brocheti had seven kills to lead the Cougars.
The Eagles host Gallaudet University in a homecoming match on Saturday morning at 10 am.
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