ST. DAVIDS, Pa. – Second-seeded Eastern University Volleyball hit .488 in the match to beat the the visiting third-seeded FDU-Florham Devils in three sets.
Caroline Shelby put away 20 kills to lead the Eagles to their 24th- consecutive conference championship match. The Eagles (19-12) will play at DeSales for the MAC Freedom Championship on Saturday.
Ally Spillane served three aces in a row to build a 5-1 lead in the opening set. The Eagles earned nine points with Spillane serving in the set, and allowed the Devils to earn only one point on serve in winning 25-11. The first year outside hitter served a team-high 24 times in the match.
"We passed well tonight," Head Coach
Mark Birtwistle said after the match. "We were able to serve aggressively and keep them from getting into an offensive rhythm, but when you side out at 90 percent, you are going to have success."
Morgan Kline had 14 assists in the first set and was able to get eight kills for her middle hitters.
Sarah Roberts had three kills on four attack and
Michelle Paulsen had five kills on eight attacks.
With the middles working, Shelby took over the second set. The rookie outside hitter put down eight balls on ten swings in the frame. Eastern hit .593 and again allowed the Devils to score just one point on serve. FDU (25-8) entered the match with 254 aces on the year. The Eagles did not concede an ace tonight.
Sydney MacDonald had five of her eight digs in the second set.
Shelby put down another eight balls in the final set. While the Eagles hit only .353 in the final set, they still only allowed a single point on serve by the visitors. Paulsen served for seven points to put the Eagles up 11-2. Sarrah Roberts had a kill and two blocks in the burst.
The Eagles will travel to DeSales to play against the Bulldogs in the MAC Freedom Final for the the ninth time in the last ten years. This will be the first time the two teams have played in the post-season in Center Valley. DeSales claimed a five-set win in St. Davids earlier this year.
Kline finished with 39 assists and Kauffman had a team-high nine digs. Shelby added eight digs and four blocks, and Roberts finished with seven blocks.
The MAC Freedom Champion will earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
