ST. DAVIDS, Pa.– Eastern University Volleyball rallied from two-sets down to force a fifth set before falling to the visiting Stockton University Ospreys (28-2) in five sets. Cecilia Bauer had 24 kills and 19 digs and Katie Stenby picked up a career-high 28 digs to lead the Eagles.

How It Happened:
After dropping two tight sets to start, the Eagles jumped to a 9-1 lead in the third set. Bauer and Ally Spillane each had three kills in building the lead. Spillane, who finished the evening with 12 kills, had six of her kills in the third set. The Ospreys ended the run and scored a point on serve to trim the Eastern lead to 9-3, but the Eagles passed their way to a sideout and never let the visitors put together a run on the way to a 25-13 win the third.

The fourth set was full of drama. After Stockton opened a 9-5 lead with three points in a row, the Eagles were able tie the match at 12 and take a 13-12 lead on a pair of kills from Bauer. Only once, when Eastern led 24-22 did either team lead by more than a point until the set ended. Stockton had a match point at 26-25, but Caroline Shelby pounded out a kill to earn the side-out. The Eagles then scored a point on an attack error with Shelby serving.

Stockton, however, earned a sideout and a point to earn another match point at 28-27. Lindsey Heisey put down a kill for an Eastern sideout, but the Ospreys again answered for a third match point. Bauer delivered her ninth kill of the set to tie the match before Kylie McCusker served for a pair of points to force a fifth set. Bauer had nine kills on 16 attempts with no errors for a .552 hitting percentage in the set. As a group, the Eagles hit .286 and had 31 digs.

After the Ospreys built a 9-3 edge in the fifth, the Eagles closed the gap to 10-8 with Shelby pounding out a pair of kills with Morgan Kline at the service line. With the Eagles trailing 12-9, Bauer pushed a shot to the deep corner that landed only inches out of bounds. The Eagles earned a pair of points with Stenby serving to cut it to 14-12, but the Ospreys earned a sideout to claim the match.

Eastern hit .237 as a team. Shelby had 17 kills and 11 digs and Spillane had 13 digs to go with her 12 kills. Morgan Kline and Kylie McCusker split setting duties. Kline had 32 assists and 17 digs and McCusker finished with 25 assists and 16 digs. Heisey had ten kills and a block.

Emily Sullivan had 16 kills, 16 digs, and 43 assists to lead Stockton.

Coach Birtwistle Says;
"Obviously, Katie and Cecilia were really good tonight. We passed the ball well and played the defense we needed to play to keep points alive. We did a good job serving aggressively without errors. Katie was very good defensively and in serve receive. They are a good team. They are ranked second in their region and are confident. We got a plays in big moments from a lot of different players. I think we can build off this."

Up Next:
There is almost no rest for the Eagles. They are at Lebanon Valley Colelge for a pair of matches tomorrow. They play the host Dutchmen in the morning at 10 and then take on Moravian at noon.