ST. DAVIDS, Pa.– It was not easy, but Eastern University Women's Volleyball claimed a critical five-set MAC Commonwealth win over the visiting York College Spartans to move one step closer to the top seed in the upcoming MAC Commonwealth Tournament. Logan Martin led the Eagles with 18 kills, and Rachel Curran put away 12 balls. 

The Eagles (21-4, 6-1) were incredibly efficient in their side-out game early and cruised to a 25-17 win in the first and a 25-12 win in the second and seemed poised to sweep the match. The 76 percent success rate on side-outs in the opening set, however, was a little misleading. Seven of their 13 side-outs came on service errors. The Eagles hit over .500 and held the visitors to only five kills in the second set. Curran put away four balls on only five swings and the Eagles had only two hitting errors in the second set. Elle Jiron-Bujanda had ten of her 41 assists in the second frame. 

Up 23-20 in the third, the Eagles seemed poised to close out the match, but the visiting Spartans (18-7, 6-2) showed their resolve. Playing without their primary setter, who left with injury in the second set, the Spartans reeled off the final five points of the set to extend the match. York extended a 14-13 lead in the fourth on a six-point run, and though the Eagles scored a pair of points with Grace Will at the service line, they were not able to recover and York won the fourth 25-20. The Spartans hit .256 in the set. 

Natalie Saxton had a pair of kills and a block in helping the Eagles to build a 6-2 lead in the fifth. For the match, Saxton had seven kills on 16 attempts and six total blocks. The Eastern serve receive held the the Spartans to just one point on serve the rest of the day. Bridgette Kelly had a pair of aces in the final set. She hit .316 for the day with eight kills. 

Grace Casagrande finished with a match-high 22 digs. Grace Will added 15.

"We are one step closer to our goal of hosting throughout," Head Coach Mark Birtwistle said after the match. "Our offense was really solid when we passed well. Bridgette and Natalie had good success when we were able to set them. Casa was solid on defense with another 20-plus dig night."

With the win, the Eagles are in position to claim the top seed in the MAC Commonwealth tournament with a home win against Lebanon Valley on Thursday. The Eagles are currently tied with Stevenson, but own the tie-breaker with the head-to-head win in Owings Mills earlier this year. The Mustangs close out their regular season at Widener on Thursday.