BOSTON-- Eastern University Volleyball split a pair of matches on the first day of the Beacon Invitational Tournament at UMass Boston. After dropping a tough four set match against Tufts, the Eagles rallied to beat the College of St. Benedict in five sets.

The Eagles took the first set 25-22 in the opener, but Tufts rallied to take the second set 26-24. The Jumbos then took the next two sets to hand the Eagles their first lose of the year.

The Eagles struggled in the service game in both matches. Against Tufts, the usually reliable Eagles had thirteen service errors and surrendered nine aces. Head Coach Mark Birtwistle stated that the inconsistency in serve receive kept the team from finding a rhythm and playing their style of volleyball.

The Eagles hit only .148 in the opening match. Rylie Haas collected 30 digs in the match. Erin Hillman led the Eagles with 11 kills and Michelle Paulsen had seven kills on nine attacks.

The match against the College of St. Benedict took over two hours. The Blazers, from Minnesota, took the first two sets and were serving for the win at 24-23 in the third. The Eagles were able to side out and eventually take the third set 28-26.

Birtwistle took some encouragement from the fourth set, where the Eagles passed well and controlled the play to take the set 25-14. The fifth set again went beyond the alotted number of points, until the Eagles finally served for the win at 18-16. Stephanie Elechko delivered the  final kill at the end of an extended rally.

Elechko and Alicia Weigel both finished with 17 kills. Rikki Schlager had 54 assists, and Kaitlyn Gochenauer finished with a team-best 5 blocks.

Birtwistle took some encouragement from his team's toughness in the recovery but noted that the competition will get even more challenging tomorrow. The Eagles (6-1) will play No. 3 Christopher Newport University tomorrow at 2 PM and the host Beacons at 6 PM.