ST. DAVIDS, Pa.– Eastern University Women's Volleyball saw its 14-match winning streak snapped in a four-set home loss to Haverford College. The Fords (17-3) won the final three sets to beat the Eagles for the second time this year.
Eastern (19-2) dropped a five-set decision to the Fords at Haverford on a Friday night in early September. With that result and the proximity of the two campuses, the gym filled quickly before the start of the match. The Eagles built a 22-18 lead in the opening set, but saw the visitors reel off six of the next seven points to earn a chance to serve for the set at 24-23.
Bridgette Kelly put away a kill to fight off the first set point, but the Fords were successful in their side-out chance and again had a chance to serve for the set. The Eastern serve receive let the deep serve go out for an error, and Kelly delivered a pair of aces for the 27-25 win.
The Eagles had nine kills and nine errors in the opening set but picked up points on six blocks and four service aces. They struggled to mount an attack against an aggressive Haverford serve and big block in the second set. The Fords pounded out four aces and collected four blocks in holding the Eagles to .000 hitting percentage in a 25-19 loss in the second.
Rachel Curran and
Logan Martin each had three kills in the set, but it was not enough as the Eagles were only successful on 37 percent of their side-out chances.
Both teams were very successful in the side-out game early in the third. The Eagles built a 13-9 lead early in the set and the lead stayed at four until the Fords put together a three-point run to pull within a point at 16-15. The two squads stayed within two points of each other the rest of the way, and both sides neared their substitution limits.
Trinity Gruber, who usually plays in the back row, and Kelly combined on a block to give the Eagles a 21-20 lead, but the Fords earned a side-out with a block of their own and scored on serve to grab control of the score in the set. They found another block late to score again on serve and held on for a 25-23 win.
Haverford jumped to an early lead in the fourth and held on to win 25-18.
Martin finished with a team-high 15 kills. Kelly and
Natalie Saxton each finished with 8 kills. Kelly had six blocks and Saxton had five.
Grace Casagrande and
Kelsey Bradshaw each tallied 14 digs.
The Eagles are at Messiah University for a MAC Commonwealth game this coming Wednesday.
