READING, Pa.– Logan Martin tallied 17 kills and Eastern University Women's Volleyball hit .356 for the match as they Eagles earned a 3-0 win at Alvernia in the program's first league game as a member of the MAC Commonwealth. The Eagles (5-0, 1-0) shook off a little bit of a slow start and pulled away with two decisive wins in the final two sets. 

The Eagles had won 17 straight matches in rivalry, but the two sides last played when Alvernia and Eastern were both in the MAC Freedom in 2008. Before then, the two programs played annually as members of the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference. 

The Golden Wolves (1-3, 0-1) used six kills from Taylor Suto to keep things close in the opening set, but the Eagles built a 15-11 lead with Bridgett Kelly serving for four consecutive points and were able to hold the edge through to a 25-22 win. Martin had seven kills and the Eagles hit .382. 

The Eastern attack slipped a little in efficiency in the second set, but the Eagles never trailed on the way to a 25-17 win. Rachel Curran had three kills in the second and finished with nine on the evening. 

After Kelsey Bradshaw started the third with a service ace and served for two more points, the Eagles never trailed the rest of the way. The Eagles poundedout 12 kills on only 21 swings in the third for an impressive .524 hitting percentage. Elle Jiron-Bujanda finished the night with 25 assists, seven digs, and three kills, and Grace Casagrande finished with nine digs and led a very solid serve receive through the evening. 

"It was a good start to the conference season," Head Coach Mark Birtwistle said after the game. "We started a little slow, but we were able to put pressure on their defense by quality attacks. Logan had another strong night and Rachel had her best offensive outing so far. We have a tough weekend coming up against Haverford and Scranton on Friday so we're looking to refocus and get back to a more up-tempo effort."

The Eagles are at the Haverford College Invitational on Friday and Saturday. Fans looking to attend the event should be aware that Haverford requires face masks for spectators at all indoor events.