ST. DAVIDS, Pa. – Eastern University Women's Volleyball entered tonight's 2021 opener with 15 players on the roster that had never appeared in a college contest. Led by 20 kills from first-year standout Logan Martin, the Eagles pulled away to a 3-0 win over the visiting Arcadia University Knights. 

Despite heavy rains outside, the Eastern student section showed up in force. The big crowd might have contributed to early nerves, as the Eagles only won the opening set 25-18 despite hitting .357 and only giving up six kills. Martin had five kills and sophomore Kailyn Ziegler had four kills. The Eagles had nine service errors in the frame, but were able to side-out at 63 percent to keep the Knights from putting together a run.

Martin had eight kills in the second set, but again, the Eagles were unable to pull away early. Arcadia led 19-18 late, but Martin served the final five points of the set for a 25-20 win. Fellow first-year Bridgette Kelly put away all three of her chances in set. Kelly finished the match with four kills on four swings. While they committed eight errors at the service line, the Eagles were perfect receiving serve and were able to side-out at 71 percent.

The Knights scored the first four points of the final set before Elle Jiron-Bujanda dunked a pass from fellow sophomore Grace Casagrande over on two to send Kelly back to serve. With Martin and Natalie Saxton in the front row, Kelly served six in a row. Each of the hitters had two kills and combined on a block in the burst. The Eagles continued to side-out efficiently and served efficiently to pull away to a 25-13 win in the final set. Kelsey Bradshaw served an ace and Martin served two. The Eagles hit .476 in the final set.

"It was good opening match," Head Coach Mark Birtwistle said. "We did some things well enough to compensate for the things we did not do well. It was a good environment to start the season, and we know what we need to work on going forward."

The Eagles will play three matches at Salisbury University this weekend.