SWARTHMORE, Pa. – Eastern University Volleyball split a pair of matches on the second day at Swarthmore. The Eagles beat Catholic in four sets in the noon game but lost in three to the hosts in the finale.

The Eagles started slowly in the Catholic match. The team had 12 hitting errors in dropping the opening set 25-19, but hit .320 over the final three sets to claim the match. Ally Spillane led the Eagles with 15 kills. Caroline Shelby had 12, and Sarah Roberts added 11.

The Eagles ran out to a 10-2 lead while Cecilia Bauer was serving and surged to a 17-4 lead before claiming the second set 25-10. In the critical third set, the Eagles broke open an 11-9 set with a hideout and five points while Miranda Kauffman was serving. Michelle Paulsen had a solo block and a kill in the run. The Eagles grabbed the 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-18 win in the third.

Eastern ran out to an early lead in the fourth and closed out the match  with a 25-13 final set.

"We did a good job taking away some of the things that Catholic was doing," Head Coach Mark Birtwistle said. "Once we got some timely blocks from Michelle [Paulsen] and picked up some tips on defense, Catholic got out of rhythm and we were able to attack."

Eastern hit .429 in the final set. Roberts and Paulsen, Eastern's two middles, put down 20 kills on 45 attacks. Paulsen finished with seven blocks. With 393 in her career, he moved into third on Eastern's career blocking list.

The host Garnet put the Eagles on the defensive from the start.

Swarthmore claimed the first set 25-15. The Eastern attack started to roll in the second set, but Swarthmore matched Eastern's .297 hitting percentage with 20 kills and a .405 hitting percentage to claim the second set 28-26.

A five point run in the middle of the third set proved to be the difference as the Eagles fell behind 14-9 and were never able to close within two points the rest of the match. Shelby led the Eagles with 12 kills in the match.

"We knew we were going to have to dig more, and transition attack," Birtwistle said about the second match. "Swarthmore was very offensive and we while we hung with them, they kept the pressure on us. We are still trying to be the team that does that on a consistent basis."

Paulsen was named to the All-Tournament team. The Eagles will play FDU-Florham at home on Wednesday night before getting a rare weekend off next weekend.