HAVERFORD, Pa.– After dropping a heart-breaking five-set decision to the host Fords in the 5 pm contest, Eastern University Women's Volleyball rallied from 2-0 deficit to hand the University of Scranton Royals (5-1) their first loss of the year. The Eagles (5-1) hit .435 in the critical third set of the Scranton match. 

Because Eastern and Haverford did not finish playing until after 7, the match started a half hour late. Things did not go well in the first two sets. Scranton won the first set 25-20, but the Eagles scored several points late to reduce a much larger deficit. The second set was even more of a struggle. The Royals practically served the Eagles off the court. Eastern had only 19 attacks in dropping the set 25-14.

The Eastern coaching staff made some line-up changes heading into the third, and the team found defensive energy and was able to find some holes in the Scranton block. After the team played with two setters in a 6-2 system for the first seven sets of the day, Ashley Thorsted took over running the offense in a 5-1. Jailene Lugo and Bridgette Kelly became weapons in the middle. Lugo finished with eight kills on 15 attempts and Kelly had nine kills on 18 swings. 

With the middles hitting, the outside hitters began to find a little space. After the teams traded points early, the Eagles pulled away to a 25-19 win in the third. The fourth set was a complete mirror of the second. The Eagles hit just .163, but the Royals struggled in serve-receive and the Eagles capitalized on errors to run away to a 25-12 win. 

The Eagles continued to scramble on defense through the fifth set and pulled away to a 15-10 win to claim the match.

"Our defense won the match for us tonight," Head Coach Mark Birtwistle said. "We made some line-up changes that worked out, but our defensive effort in the final three sets made a huge difference."

Grace Casagrande finished with 24 digs and three aces and Grace Will had 11 digs and two aces. 

The Eagles also dropped the first two sets in the opener against the Fords (4-1). The attack sputtered early on the way to 25-14 and 25-21 losses. 

Kelsey Bradshaw ripped back-to-back aces in the third and the Eagles built a 10-5 lead. Though Haverford would eventually tie the set at 17-17, the Eagles had enough control of the set to pull away to a 25-21 win. The Fords built and early lead in the fourth, but Kelly served for five consecutive points to give the Eagles a slight edge. Haverford though, built a 20-19 lead before Rachel Curran tied the set at 20-20. The Eagles then scored three points on serve and were able to side-out for the set. 

The Fords went up 9-3 in the fifth, but again the Eagles found a come-back. Casagrande, who finished with 24 digs and three aces in the first match as well, served for six points to put the Eagles up 10-9. The Fords earned a point on serve at 12-12 to grab control and claimed the match with another point on serve up 15-14. 

The Eagles finished the opening match with 48 kills and 32 hitting errors. Curran led the Eagles with 12 kills. 

Eastern will battle Eagle Road Rival Cabrini University at 10 am tomorrow morning before concluding the invitational with a 2 pm game against Elizabethtown.