HAVERFORD, Pa.– Eastern University Women's Volleyball won a pair of Saturday matches to finish 3-1 at the Haverford College Invitational. The Eagles (8-1) claimed a 3-1 win in the morning over local rival Cabrini and won in three very tight sets against Elizabethtown College (3-3) in the afternoon.
Even away from Eagle Road, the Eastern/ Cabrini rivalry means a little more. The Cavaliers had the advantage of a reasonable bedtime and relatively short slate of activity the night before. The Eagles started with a 6-3 lead and then saw the opening set go completely sideways. Eastern scored just a single point on serve and struggled to receive serve as the Cavaliers reeled off 22 of the final 31 points in the set to grab a 1-0 lead.
The momentum changed in the second set. The Eagles scored the first two points and never trailed on the way to tying the score at a set apiece. The Eagles pounded out 15 kills and hit .400 on the way to a 25-16 win.
Rachel Curran had six of her 15 kills in the second set.
The Eagles built an 18-12 lead in the third, but the scrappy Cavalier defense kept balls alive and closed the gap to 24-23 before
Logan Martin pounded out her fourth kill of the set to give the Eagles a 2-1 edge. Cabrini hit .268 with 16 kills in the set, but the Eagles generated enough offense to grab the lead.
Curran had three kills in the early going of the fourth as the Eagles built a 7-1 edge to force a Cabrini timeout. The Cavaliers trimmed the deficit to 9-5 before
Jailene Lugo buried a ball for a sideout.
Elle Jiron-Bujanda served three aces in a four-point run and the Eagles found ways to score on serve in four of the next five service rotations on the way to a 25-13 win.
Martin and Curran each had efficient 15-kill mornings, and Grace Casagranda led the Eagles with 15 digs. Jiron-Bujanda had 33 assists, 11 digs, five aces, three kills and a block.
While the afternoon match against the Blue Jays was the only three-set affair of the weekend, the Eagles needed every point. In winning the final two sets by matching 26-24 scores.
Natalie Saxton and
Bridgette Kelly gave the Eagles an efficient attack in the middle. Kelly earned all-tournament honors and finished with eight kills, and ace and three blocks. Saxton had seven kills and two blocks.
Casagrande finished with her third 20-dig match of the weekend. The sophomore libero had a pair of aces to go with a team-high 20 digs. Jiron-Bujnda had 36 assists and 13 digs.
Trinity Gruber recorded 10 digs.
After playing 17 sets of competitive volleyball inside 24 hours, the Eagles will get a day off tomorrow to recover, but they are looking at a huge MAC Commonwealth game on the schedule this coming Tuesday at Stevenson. The Mustangs (8-1) have won the last nine MAC Commonwealth Titles. The two programs have never competed as conference opponents. The Eagles won at Stevenson in 2018.
