BEVERLY, Mass.--Eastern Volleyball split its Friday tournament matches, losing to Williams College in a two-hour battle but then bouncing back minutes later to overcome Bowdoin College.

No. 17 Eastern fell in five sets to Williams, 21-25, 25-20, 25-20, 21-25, 9-15, but then had enough stamina to edge Bowdoin 25-21, 25-21, 25-20.

Eagles head coach Mark Birtwistle said he felt his team played well against a very tall team like Williams, but said that there were times they could have done better at execution. He said that he saw a lot of good things from the Eagles in the second match, specifically the ability to focus in the back end of two long matches with a very short break in between.

In the first match, Eastern outhit Williams .217 to .210, but the tall Williams front row recorded nine team blocks.

Five Eagles had double-digit kills in the first match: Kearby Benak (15), Katrina Pisch (12), Stephanie Elechko (11), Erin Hillman (11), and Lauren Sproles (10). Pisch hit for .458 in the match.

In the second match, an hour-and-a-half three-set affair, the Eagles pulled away late in each set.

In the set one, three kills in a row by Kearby Benak gave Eastern the lead for good at 17-16. Benak was the only Eagle with more than 10 kills against Bowdoin. She finished with 11.

The second set was a similar tale with the Eagles scoring four points in a row to take the lead at 18-17. In the final frame, the Eagles trailed by three but then tied the game at 17-17 with a kill from Erin Hillman. Eastern took the lead on a Bowdoin error on the next point, and Hillman finished the match with kill for a 25-20 final score.

The Eagles will look to get some rest tonight before playing Endicott College at noon Saturday and UMass-Boston at 4 p.m.

vs. Williams Box Score

vs. Bowdoin Box Score