ST. DAVIDS, Pa.– Eastern University Women's Volleyball put together a complete performance to sweep the visiting Susquehanna University Riverhawks in a Friday night non-league match. The Eagles hit .289 as a team to beat Susquehanna for the first time in the last three meetings. In the third set, the Eagles erased six-point deficit and won 29-27.
"This was a great team win," Head Coach
Mark Birtwistle said after the match. "Everyone came in and did their jobs well. Our passing and serving were both really good and our energy was outstanding. We had a little lull early in the third set, but we got some big points to get back into it and were very good siding out down the stretch."
Down, 17-11 in the third, the Eagles picked up a sideout on a kill from
Bridgette Kelly and a point on
Elle Jiron-Bujanda's serve on big double-block from Kelly and
Lexi Couch. Jiron Bujanda served the Eagles back to within one and after a pair of side outs,
Trinity Gruber served for two more points to give the Eagles a 19-18 lead. Kelly earned the first point with a big solo block and the second with a kill.
That work put the Eagles in the match, but the Riverhawks earned two more points on serve to hold a 23-21 lead. The Eagles earned a sideout on an attack error, but just earning sideouts would not be enough.
Viviana Fragoso earned one of the points back with an ace and
Logan Martin pounded out a kill to put the Eagles up 24-23. The teams then traded sideouts for the next seven points.
As a sub-plot to the unfolding drama, the Eagles used their 15th and final substitution of the set in that run of sideouts. Gruber and
Peyton Wheeler came on with the Eagles up 27-26. Gruber had a pair of digs, and Wheeler converted a kill for match point. The first-year outside hitter finished the day with a very efficient 10 kills on 24 attempts. Martin and
Hannah Pringle each had five kills in the final set.
The Eastern passers were on point in the opening set. The Eagles hit .410 and were able to side out on 13-of-16 (81 percent) chances on the way to a 25-15 win. Jiron Bujanda found five different hitters for 17 assists on eastern's 20 kills in the opening frame.
Logan Martin had seven kills on nine swings and Wheeler put away five balls on ten swings.
The Riverhawks (13-11) held an early 12-9 lead in the second set, but the Eagles grabbed the momentum back on a five-point run with Gruber at the service line. She dropped in consecutive aces in the run, and Kelly and
Kaylyn Zeigler combined on a big block. After Susquehanna grabbed a brief lead at 17-16, Fragoso served the Eagles back into the lead for good with a four-point run. The Eagles hit .303 in the second set for a 25-22 win. Kelly led the Eastern hitters with four kills on six attacks.
Martin finished with a match-high 15 kills and a .522 hitting percentage. Kelly and Pringle each had nine kills. Jiron-Bujanda registered 44 assists.
Grace Casagrande had 16 digs and Fragoso added 13.
The Eagles (15-5) are at Neumann University for a pair of non-league matches tomorrow. They will host the Stevenson University Mustangs in a match with enormous post-season implications on Tuesday night.
