ST. DAVIDS, Pa.– Eastern University Volleyball dropped a hard-fought three-set decision to the visiting Juniata College Eagles (10-4). Caroline Shelby led the Eagles with 13 kills.

After struggling out of the gate in the opening set, Eastern played with the No. 13 visitors. Eastern had a dozen hitting errors in falling 25-15. Shelby hit .400 in the set, but the Eagles hit -.133.

Eastern found better offense in the second set and built a 15-10 lead. The advantage grew to 21-15 as the Eagles earned three points as Ally Spillane served. Juniata, however, rallied and closed the gap to 22-21 with six of the next seven points.

The Eastern served for the set at 24-23, and Sydney MacDonald forced an overpass on a powerful jump serve, but the ball trickled over the net to tie the set at 24-24. Juniata recorded kills for the final two points of the set. Shelby had six kills in the set, and Spillane and Morgan Shemonski each had three kills.

Juniata built an early six-point lead in the third set before Eastern served its way back into the match. Eastern closed the gap to 17-16 on a block from Shelby and Michelle Paulsen, but the home side was never able to grab the lead and Juniata was able to earn sideout points to close out the match.

Eastern (9-8) will host Rowan and Messiah College in a tri-match tomorrow. The Eagles will play Rowan at 10 AM and Messiah at 2:00 PM. Messiah and Rowan will play at noon. If a match runs long, the start time may get pushed back, but no match will start early.