ELMHURST, Ill.--No. 11 Eastern University Volleyball challenged two national top-25 teams on Saturday, but were stopped by No. 13 Elmhurst in five sets and No. 7 Washington-St. Louis in three sets.
The Elmhurst College Blue Jays edged the Eagles in the first two sets 25-23, 26-24, but the Eagles responded by pounding the Blue Jays 25-15 in the third set and holding them off 25-23 in the fourth set. The Blue Jays, however, took the deciding set 15-11.
Shortly after concluding that match, the Eagles had to go right into their showdown with the Washington University in St. Louis Bears. The Bears swept the Eagles 25-21, 25-18, 25-18.
Eastern senior middle hitter Katrina Pisch clubbed 19 kills against Elmhurst and 11 kills against Washington-St. Louis. Pisch did so remarkably without any errors and as a result hit .566 for the day.
Against Elmhurst, in the first set, Pisch recorded a kill to tie the game at 23-23, but Elmhurst grabbed the set after notching two straight kills. Eastern's Alicia Weigel served five of her six aces in the set.
In the second set, Eastern trailed 20-18, but another Pisch kill and an Elmhurst error evened the score. As the teams traded points, kills by Eastern's Lauren Sproles evened the set at 23-23 and 24-24. Sproles had 13 kills in the match. The Blue Jays then again slipped away with the set win after a block and an ace.
In the third set, the Eagles trailed 9-5, but Pisch recorded three straight kills and Alicia Weigel slammed one of her nine kills to even the score. Eastern's Erin Hillman served 12 times in a row as the Eagles pulled away to take the set.
The fourth set was even at 21-21 but a kill by Weigel, a kill by Stephanie Elechko and an ace by setter Rikki Schlager put Eastern at game-point. Elechko finished the set with another kill, one of her nine kills.
The Eagles hit .297 in the fourth set, their most efficient set of the day, but came out in the fifth set with their lowest percentage of the day, .045. Despite the low mark, the Eagles led 11-10 in the fifth set, but the Blue Jays closed out the set with five straight points.
Eastern setter Rikki Schlager distributed the second-most assists in a match for her career, finding teammates for kills 52 times. Libero Rylie Haas recorded another 20-plus dig game, getting 23 digs.
Against Washington-St. Louis, Eastern overcame a six-point gap in the first set to take a 20-19 lead on a Pisch kill, but the Bears closed out the set on a 6-2 run. The Bears' stayed hot in the second set, hitting .424 and holding at least a six-point lead for most of the set. The third set was tight up until 13-13, but the Bears pulled away. The Bears edged the Eagles in hitting percentage in the third set .263 to .235.
Eastern plays its first home game of the season on Tuesday night against King's College at 7 p.m.
Box Score vs. Elmhurst
Box Score vs. Washington-St. Louis
