ST. DAVIDS, Pa.– After a little bit of a sluggish start, Eastern University Volleyball (19-3, 5-1 MAC Freedom) found an offensive rhythm and beat the visiting Manhattanville College Valiants in three sets. Michelle Paulsen and Sarah Roberts led the Eastern attack and earned their 100th victories as Eastern players.

Top Performers:
Michelle Paulsen: 11 Kills, .500 hitting, 6 blocks Sarah Roberts: 8 kills .615 hitting

How It Happened:
The Eagles built a 17-12 lead in the opening set on three points on Paulsen's serve. Roberts combined with Sammy Rogers on a block and had a kill in the sequence. The Valiants closed the gap to 20-18, but the Eagles were able to sideout efficiently enough to hold on for a 25-21. The Eagles hit .306 and had 17 kills in the opening set, but made six hitting errors and four serving errors.

Eastern built a 6-2 lead in the second set and did not allow the visitors to score a point on serve until the 20th point of the set. Eastern was able to sideout on 10 of 13 chances in the set. Paulsen andd Roberts combined for eight kills on only 16 attacks in the set. Lindsey Heisey had eight of her nine digs in the second, and the Eagles took a 2-0 lead with a 25-13 win.

Cecilia Bauer was the first Eastern server in the third. After a quick sideout, Bauer served for 11 straight points before the Valiants scored on a tremendous rally. Bauer had three aces, Caroline Shelby had a pair of kills in the run and Morgan Kline had a kill on a quick dump off a tight pass. With the Valinats under pressure receiving serve, the Eagles had only seven kills in the set.

In the match, the Eagles had only one receiving error and were 33 -of-43 on sideout opportunities. Bauer, Kline, Heisey, and Shelby each had nine digs. Monica Lopez had 18 digs for Manhattanville.

Coach Birtwistle Says:
"It was great to see Michelle and Sarah play well as they picked up their 100th win as part of the program. Once we found ways to get them into the offense, we were effective. We passed well enough to do that. Manhattanville was really scrappy through the early part of the match. We are looking forward to a big weekend at Juniata."

Up Next:
The Eagles will have three tough matches at Juniata College in the Wid Guisler Invitational this weekend. They will play the No. 7 hosts on Friday night before battling the 13-9 University of Mary Washington Eagles and the No. 25 Johns Hopkins Blue Jays on Saturday. Eastern lost a five-set heartbreaker to Hopkins earlier this season.