WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – Eastern University Volleyball won the final three sets in commanding fashion to improve to 3-0 in the MAC Freedom with a four-set win over the host King's College Monarchs (11-3, 1-2).
Caroline Shelby led an Eastern attack that hit .370 over the final three sets with 19 kills and 15 digs.
How It Happened:
Despite offensive struggles, the Eagles were still in position to take the opening set. They held a four-point lead for most of the latter part of the set and had a trio of set points with a 24-20 lead. The Monarchs rallied with five points in a row to lead 25-24. Shelby delivered kills on consecutive points to give the Eagles a set pint, but King's earned a side out and scored two for the 28-26 win.
Eastern hit a blistering .516 in the second set with 20 kills on only 31 attacks. The Eagles were up 23-12 and finished off the set 25-15.
Ally Spillane and
Cecilia Bauer each had six kills in the second set.
The Monarchs built an early lead in the third set, but the Eagles put together a five-point run with
Morgan Kline at the service line to jump to a 13-11 advantage. The Eastern lead grew to 15-12 and the two teams basically traded sideouts the rest of the way. King's earned a single point on serve to make it 17-16 and the Eagles scored the final point of the set with Bauer serving to win the set 25-22.
Eastern dominated the final set with tough serving and mistake-free offense. The Eagles had ten kill and no errors in running away to a 25-7 win in the final set.
Spillane and Bauer joined Shelby in double figure kills with 15 and 14.
Katie Stenby had 16 digs.
Ashley Thorsted had 28 assists and Kline added 20 assists.
Hannah Picconi led the team with five blocks.
Coach Birtwistle Says:
"I felt we were a little bus-lagged in the first set and it took us a longer time than I had hoped to get going. We responded in set two with better passing and then our offense took over. Once we were able to control our side of the net with passing and defense, the points came a little easier."
Up Next:
The Eagles are off until next Tuesday when they make nearly the same trip to take on Wilkes University.
