WILKES-BARRE, Pa.– Eastern University Volleyball held off a late challenge from the host Wilkes University Colonels to earn a 3-1 win in the MAC Freedom opener for both teams. The young Eagles (7-2, 1-0 MAC Freedom) ground out a 25-20 win in the fourth set to claim the match.

Eastern hit a stunning .522 to race to a 25-5 opening set win. Caroline Shelby had six of her match-high 19 kills in the opening set. The No. 19 Eagles hit .250 on the way to a 25-19 win in the second set. While the Eastern attack worked, the service game struggled. Wikes picked up five points in the second on Eastern service errors. 

That trend continued, and the Colonels escaped with a 25-23 win in the third set. The Eagles missed on six serves in the third set.

"Our serving was off tonight," Head Coach Mark Birtwistle said after the match. "We gave them some free points, and then I think we started to play defensively and a little tight in that fourth set. We are a very young team, and we will learn from this. We figured out a way to win the match."

Wilkes built a 9-6 lead in the fourth set before the Eagles started to chip away. Eastern took the lead for good at 18-17. A kylie McCusker ace pushed the lead to 20-17, and the Eagles got a pair of kills from Ally Spillane, a kill from Morgan Shemonski, and an ace from Sydney MacDonald to close out the match.

Spillane had 14 kills, and Michelle Paulsen had 11 kills and five blocks. Morgan Shemonski hit .533 with ten kills on 15 attacks. MacDonald had a match-best 22 digs. The Eagles had ten service aces and 22 errors.

Eastern will play in Hoboken on Friday night at the Stevens Institute of Technology Invitational. The Eagles will play Arcadia on Friday before playing NYU and Christopher Newport on Saturday.