ST. DAVIDS, Pa.- Eastern University Volleyball bounced back from a tough loss to top-ranked Juniata last night with a pair of wins today. The No. 12 Eagles beat the University of Mary Washington (12-4) and Rowan University (7-7) in three-set matches.

The score, however, does not really tell the story of the day. Rikki Schlager took an injury in warm-ups of the first match and was ruled out for the day. Injuries always test teams, but losing a two-time All-American setter moments before a match could really be unsettling.

The Eagles made some quick adjustments and seemed to not miss a beat. Rachael Graham and Miranda Kauffman stepped in to run the offense. With two setters splitting the job of running the offense, the Eagles were able to be efficient in their hitting. Head Coach Mark Birtwistle noted that it became very important for his hitters to force the opponents to earn their points with kills and that the middles took on more of a blocking role on the floor.

Each player needed to step into a little bigger responsibility to pick up for the absence on Schlager. With Kauffman, who is usually a defensive specialist, setting, the Eastern hitters had to take on new passing and defensive roles. Birtwistle also noted that the Eastern Eagles won the serve receive game which is so important in keeping leads and stopping opposing runs.

Eastern topped Mary Washington 25-15, 25-17, 25-22 in the 11 AM opener. Stephanie Elechko led the way with 12 kills. Alicia Weigel had eight kills and Morgan Shemonski registered six. Shemonski added three blocks. Kaitlyn Gochenauer registered five blocks and Michelle Paulsen continued her impressive freshman season with four blocks.

The Eagles jumped out to a 25-6 first-set win over Rowan in the second match and never looked back. Weigel finished with 12 kills and Elechko added 10. Rylie Haas finished with 16 digs.

The Eagles will host DeSales on Wednesday and Lebanon Valley and Stevenson in the MAC Crossover match-up next Saturday.