ST. DAVIDS, Pa.– Eastern University Volleyball took the No. 14 Johns Hopkins University Blue Jays to the brink, but fell in five sets in the team's first home match of the season. Caroline Shelby led the Eagles with 19 kills and 11 digs.

How It Happened:
With the match between Widener and Washington and Lee running long, the game started close to 45 minutes after it's scheduled start in front of a large and vocal Eastern student section. The opening set bounced back and forth with neither team taking full control. Eastern trailed 20-19 and earned a sideout on Shelby's third kill of the match. Morgan Kline earned the 21st point on a service ace and the Eagles reeled off the next four points to take a one-set lead. Ally Spillane and Michelle Paulsen combined for a block on the final point. Paulsen finished the evening with eight blocks and seven kills.

Hopkins started up early in the second set, and the Eastern offense never clicked in dropping the second set 25-17. The Blue Jays had five different hitters record kills int he second set. Eastern had more errors than kills in the frame.

The third set went back and forth with both teams attacking well and coming up with incredible defensive plays. Cecilia Bauer made eight of her team-high 22 digs in the third. Hopkins relied on Simone Bliss and Lousia Kishton for much of the attack int he set. Bliss had six kills and Kishton put down five. Shelby and Sammy Rogers matched those numbers exactly. The Egles dodge a set point and flipped the momentum of the match with a sideout and a kill from Rogers with Shelby at the service line. Eastern won the set 29-27.

After the emotional win in the third set, the Eagles fell behind early in the fourth. Hopkins grabbed that momentum and pulled away. The visitors hit a stunning .448 as they passed perfectly and put the Eagles out of system for most of the set.

Both teams had seven kills in the fifth set. Both teams had multiple runs of three or more points. On one of those runs, the Blue Jays turned an 11-9 Eastern lead into a 13-11 Hopkins edge. Neither team scored a point on serve the rest of the way, and Hopkins remained unbeaten with a 15-13 win in the final set.


Coach Birtwistle Says:

"I am proud of the way our girls competed tonight against a nationally competitive program. We put pressure on them and earned some quality points late in the fifth."

"It was really fun playing in front of our home crowd tonight. The girls did a great job of creating some positive energy on the court and the crowd responded and motivated us. Shelly [Paulsen] and Caroline had solid offensive nights. Shelly had eight more blocks against a talented offensive team."

Up Next:
No rest for the Eagles. They are back on the court for two matches tomorrow. They will play Washington and Lee at 10 am and Widener at 4 pm. Washington and Lee beat Widener in five sets in the first match of the evening.