DOYLESTOWN, Pa.– With a convincing three-set win at Delaware Valley University tonight, Eastern University Volleyball completed an unbeaten run trough the MAC Freedom regular season for the ninth consecutive season. The No. 13 Eagles (26-5, 7-0 MAC Freedom) hit a dominant .696 in tonight's win.
Stephanie Elechko served seven straight points in the first game to open up an 11-4 lead in the opening set. The Eastern defense held the host Aggies (6-15, 0-7 MAC Freedom) to a single kill in the first set, and the Eagles won 25-7. The Eastern attack put away an improbable 11 kills on 14 attacks for a .786 hitting percentage in a 25-6 second set win.
First-year setter
Morgan Kline served the first 15 points of the third set. The Eagles had ten kills on 15 attacks in the third set. The Aggies finished the match with only six kills on 50 attacks. With the big block of
Michelle Paulsen and
Sarah Roberts leading the Eastern defense, the Eagles have held MAC Freedom opponents to a negative hitting percentage (more errors than kills) this year.
Alicia Weigel finished with a match-high 11 kills on 14 attacks. The senior outside hitter has a career-best 323 kills this fall and is up to 908 career kills. Kline finished with a career-high 8 aces.
Morgan Shemonski had eight kills and Elechko put away seven kills on eight attacks.
With five blocks tonight, Paulsen now has 144 total blocks for the season. She is eight blocks short of Kate Adams' single-season block record.
Rylie Haas had a match-best eight digs.
Tonight's action elsewhere in the league means that Eastern will host FDU-Florham in the MAC Freedom Semifinal next Wednesday. DeSales will host Manhattanville in the other semifinal.
Eastern will host a trio of teams for matches this weekend. The Eagles play Lycoming on Friday evening at 7:00. Prior to the match, the program will honor Elechko, Weigel, and Haas for their contributions over the past four seasons.