ST. DAVIDS, Pa.– Eastern University Women's Volleyball secured the top seed in the upcoming MAC Commonwealth tournament with a three-set home win over the Lebanon Valley College Dutchmen.
Bridgette Kelly hit .700 with 14 kills to lead the Eastern attack.
The Eagles (22-4, 7-1) put away 49 kills and hit .288 as a team.
Elle Jiron-Bujanda dished out 39 assists and had a pair of blocks as the team was successful on 62 percent of its side-out attempts in the match.
After beating York on Tuesday, the Eagles knew that a win tonight would secure home court for the MAC Commonwealth Tournament. Eastern and Stevenson each finish with 7-1 marks in the league, but Eastern takes the top seed by virtue of a head-to-head win at Stevenson in September. That match went five sets.
Kelly had six kills in helping the Eagles to pull away to a 25-21 win in the opening set. Eastern was successful on 13-of-22 side-out chances and hit .273. A four-point run with
Grace Casagrande at the service line pushed the Eagles to a 21-15 lead. The Dutchmen put together a three-point run late, but Kelly won a joust at the net on an overpass to end the frame.
The side-out stats were nearly identical in the second set. Eastern was again 13-of-22 and the Dutchmen went from 12-of-24 to 13-of-25. The guests had the upper hand for much of the set, but the Eagles claimed six of the final seven points to win 25-22.
Logan Martin delivered three consecutive kills with
Kelsey Bradshaw at the service line. Martin had 12 kills in the match and finished with a solid .294 hitting percentage. After an LVC side-out, Kelly put away a kill and stepped back to the service line.
Natalie Saxton put down the final kill to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead. Saxrton finished the match with nine kills and two blocks.
The Eagles won the opening two sets on Tuesday, but needed five to get past York. Today, however, they were able to find the right gear to close out the match in three. They hit .394 and ran out to a 25-17 win. The Eastern lead was 20-10 before the Dutchmen put in a late five-point run.
Jailene Lugo had five of her seven kills in the final frame.
"I am proud of this group for pushing through a tough new conference and finishing as the top seed," Head Coach
Mark Birtwistle said after the match. "While that's a nice accomplishment, our goal is to continue to play good volleyball as long as we can. Our middle attack worked well tonight. That is a credit to our passers and Elle for getting them the ball. Our attention to staying focused and improving in each set was much better tonight."
The Eagles have a final non-league test against Stevens Institute of Technology at 2 pm on Saturday. The Ducks won the MAC Freedom in 2019. Eastern's MAC Commonwealth Tournament will begin next Wednesday at home against the winner of Monday's match between fourth-ranked Messiah and fifth-seeded Widener.
