GLASSBORO, N.J. - Eastern Women's Volleyball opened up the 2016 season with a clean sweep on the first day of the Labor Day Invitational at Rowan University. The Eagles defeated Centennial Conference opponents Muhlenberg and Swarthmore by final scores of 3-0.
In the first set, Eastern (2-0) hit a combined .375 to earn the 25-13 victory. After a back and forth battle early in the set the Eagles and Mules were tied at 5-5. However, two separate 6-0 runs by the Eagles helped secure the victory. Eastern also held Muhlenberg to a hitting percentage of -.039 during the first set.
Eastern posted its highest hitting percentage of the match in the second hitting a combined .381 as a team. The Eagles claimed a 25-16 victory tallying 11 kills while only committing three errors. Trailing 11-10, a service error by the Mules and two consecutive service aces from
Morgan Kline led to an 8-1 run to make the score 18-12.
Michelle Paulsen and
Stephanie Elechko each led the Eagles with three kills.
The third set was much closer with Muhlenberg jumping out to an early 7-4 lead forcing Eastern to burn a timeout. The Eagles tallied eight of the next 13 points to tie the match at 12-12. The set remained a back and forth battle until a 6-3 run by Eastern ended the match. The Eagles totaled 13 kills while holding Muhlenberg to a hitting percentage of .080.
Eastern defeated Swarthmore (0-1) in the second match in straight sets by scores of 25-20, 25-16, and 25-15. Elechko led the way with 13 kills while Kline tallied 27 assists.
In the first set, Eastern held a slim 15-13 lead over the Garnets, two kills by Elechko sparked a 6-1 run stretching the lead to 21-14. Swarthmore battled back to pull within three, 22-19 but kills by
Alicia Weigel and
Morgan Shemonski secured the victory. Eastern totaled 13 kills in the set while committing only four errors.
In both the second and third sets the Eagles hit over .300, .367 and .320, respectively while holding the Garnets to a percentage of .000 in both sets. The Eagles totaled 24 kills over the final two sets and committed only five errors.
Eastern will round out the tournament with two matches on September 3rd. The Eagles will face Emmanuel College at 11 AM and then square off against host Rowan University at 3 PM.
