SCRANTON, Pa.– Eastern University Volleyball dropped their opening set against the Rochester Institute of Technology Tigers (1-2) but rallied to win the next three sets in convincing fashion to set up a championship match at the University of Scranton Invitational. The Eagles won topped the host Royals in three tightly contested sets.
Caroline Shelby finished the tournament with 54 kills to go over 500 for her young career.
How it happened:
The Eagles struggled to receive serve in the 25-19 opening set loss to the Tigers. After that set, the Eastern team settled in and hit .412 in the second set to seize control of the match. Shelby had 14 kills.
Michelle Paulsen had five kills and seven blocks in the four set win.
In the match against the Royals (3-1), the Eagles won the first two sets by slim margins before hitting .385 in the final set to run away to a 25-13 win. Paulsen hit .500 in the match with five blocks and
Sarah Roberts had seven kills and five blocks.
Coach Birtwistle says:
"They were serving very aggressive. As the match went on, we served better and more confidently and they softened up a bit when they were down. Cecilia Bauer did an excellent job leading our serve receive."
--on his team's response to a slow start
"Michelle had an awesome weekend on offense, blocking and serving. She ven got a few digs. I think both middles ended over .300 attacking."
-- on the production of his middle hittters
"Cecilia had digit digs in every match. She really does a good job controlling the defense. Katie Stenby also did well to on defense. Overall our defense had a good weekend. We need continued practice on our passing in serve receive. When we pass well we side out efficiently."
-- on his team's defensive performancce
"This was a really nice opening weekend against some strong teams. I was very pleased to see us pick up four wins and respond to the challenge."
-- on the overall weekend
Up Next:
Eastern will play next weekend at Marymount University. They will face what figures to be their toughest match of the early season in their opening match against Randolph-Macon. The Yellow Jackets (3-1) were also at the Stevenson Regional last fall.
