ST. DAVIDS, Pa.– Eastern University Women's Volleyball advanced to the MAC Freedom Championship match with a four-set home win over third-seeded DeSales.
Cecilia Bauer finished with 21 kills and 14 digs and
Caroline Shelby banged out 19 kills without an error and added 15 digs and three blocks to lead the Eagles.
How It Happened:
The match changed in the third set. With both teams winning a set, the Bulldogs built a 17-11 edge. After the Eagles earned a sideout on a DeSales' hitting error, Bauer went back to the service line.
The senior outside hitter put the Bulldogs off balance with aggressive serves and the Eagles capitalized. After Shelby pounded a kill off a block,
Ally Spillane found the floor to close the gap to 17-14. The Eagles picked up a point on another hitting error by the visitors, and Bauer closed the gap to one with an ace. Spillane and
Hannah Picconi combined on a block to tie the game at 17 and Shelby put the Eagles up 18-17 with one of her six kills in the set.
The Bulldogs finally earned a sideout with a block, but neither team would score a point on serve until Bauer delivered a solo block for a 24-22 lead. DeSales earned the serve back on a kill from Morghan Shoemaker, but the Eagles converted their sixth-consecutive sideout opportunity to close out the set at 25-23. Bauer put away her fourth kill of the frame to end it.
Up 2-1, the Eagles hit .542 in the fourth set to close out the match. Down 11-10 in the fourth the Eagles were able to sideout on their final seven chances to win 25-18. The Eagles were able to sideout and score two points on three occasions in the set to pull away. The Eagles were able to sideout at 67 percent for the match.
The first set could not have gone better for the Eagles. Bauer had seven kills on 14 swings and the team hit .471 in running to a 25-11 win. The Eagles led 19-15 in the second set, but the Bulldogs scored at least a point on five of their last six serving opportunities and fought off a set point to win 26-24.
Kylie McCusker had 29 assists and
Morgan Kline finished with 20 assists and 10 digs. The Eagles finished the night with 10 blocks. Picconi finished with one solo and five assists and Spillane added four assists.
Katie Stenby had 13 digs.
Diane Pugay led DeSales with 13 kills. Caroline Garretson had 12 kills on 19 attacks.
Coach Birtwistle Says:
"We have been preaching defense all year. When we fell behind in the third set, we just talked about playing with the kind of defensive energy we needed to make the comeback. We served well and got them out of system, but it really came down to getting balls up and giving our hitters a chance in transition. We had four with double-figure digs tonight."
"Our outside hitters were really good tonight. Caroline was a rock star. She's been hitting well lately, but .585 with no errors is really amazing. Our setters put the ball where it needed to go and we got some very timely blocks. All of that starts with the defense. I was very pleased with our energy."
Up Next:
The Eagles travel back to Hoboken to take on the top-seeded Stevens Institute of Technology Ducks. They beat Misericordia in three sets earlier this evening. This is the twelfth MAC Freedom Championship match for the Eagles since Eastern joined the MAC in 2008. The Eagles have won all 11 titles in their years in the league. This is Eastern's final season in the MAC Freedom. All Eastern's teams will move to the other side of the MAC starting next fall. The Championship match will begin at 4:00 pm.
