COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.– Eastern University Volleyball rebounded from a loss to Luther College with a 5-set win over Concordia (Minn.) on the final day of the Pikes Peak Challenge hosted by Colorado College. The Eagles (20-4) fell behind 2-1 to the Cobbers from Concordia (8-13) before finding their sideout rhythm and claiming the final two sets.

After a tough loss to a nationally-ranked Colorado College team the night before, the Eastern offense never found its rhythm in the first against Luther (19-6). The Norse held the Eagles to a .091 hitting percentage in the match. Eastern led early in the first set and held a 19-16 lead late, but passing breakdowns enabled the Norse to claim eight of the next ten points to lead 24-21. Eastern rallied briefly to tie the score at 24 behind two kills from Stephanie Elechko and a kill from Alicia Weigel, but Luther claimed the final two points of the set on a block and a hitting error.

The Eagles trailed 19-18 late in the second set, but Luther scored six of the final seven points to go up 2-0. Eastern's inability to get a key sideout late in that set carried over to the third set. The Eagles were only able to win points on 43 percent of Luther's serves. The Norse, meanwhile, scored points on 68 percent of Eastern's serves in the final set. A seven-point run late put the set out of reach and the Norse won 25-16. 

Sarah Roberts had six kills and four blocks and Elechko had 11 kills.

The Eagles hit .250 in winning the opening set, 25-20, against Concordia. Elechko had seven kills in the first frame. The Cobbers put together a four-point run late in the second set to grab an 18-16 lead. The Eagles managed just four sideout points the rest of the way and fell 25-20. The third set did not get better for the Eagles, they hit only .057 as a team and were only able to earn sideout points on 43 percent of Concordia serves. The Cobbers took the third set 25-19.

The match turned late in the fourth set. The Eagles trailed 21-19 before scoring three straight points to grab a brief 22-21 lead. Concordia picked up a sideout point on a serving error and then scored a point on serve to lead 23-22. Elechko put away a kill to tie the score and then Michelle Paulsen put the Eagles up with a huge solo block. Morgan Kline put the match away with a tip on the second contact. The Eagles scored the final two points of the set on Elechko's serve.

The Eagles scored eight of the final ten points in the short final set to win 15-9. Roberts had four kills in the final set.

"After the third set," Head Coach Mark Birtwistle said after the match, "we were able to get our middles going, and that opened up the court for us. We also made some defensive plays to get our momentum back."

Elechko finished with 22 kills in the match and Roberts added 11 both players had four blocks and were named to the All-Tournament team. Kline had 51 assists, and Paulsen had eight kills and five blocks. Weigel put away 14 kills. She had 56 kills in the four matches of the weekend.

Senior libero Rylie Haas recorded a season-high 32 digs in the final match.

The No. 12 Eagles return home for a MAC Freedom match against King's on Tuesday before traveling to Juniata for another big tournament next weekend.