LANCASTER, Pa.– Eastern University Women's Volleyball (1-0) opened the 2022 campaign with a decisive three-set win at Lancaster Bible College. The Eagles hit a solid .263 as a team and never trailed in any of the three sets as Head Coach Mark Birtwistle picked up his 778th career win.

Behind aggressive serving from Bridgett Kelly, the Eagles jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the opening set and pulled away to win the opening frame 25-16. First-year outside hitter Hannah Pringle recorded four of her match-high nine kills in the opening set.

"I think we passed pretty well throughout," Head Coach Mark Birtwistle said after the match. "That allowed us to get our offense going and to hit a good percentage. Our three defensive specialists and Kaylyn [Zeigler] were really solid."

The Eagles had just two receiving errors on the night, and the team was able to side out on 33-of-44 (75%) chances. Grace Casagrande was 10-for-10 on serve receptions and finished with a match-best 14 digs. Zeigler hit .364 and picked up 11 digs.

The Eagles again put the Chargers out of system with tough serving and ran out to a 20-7 lead in the second set. Logan Martin had four of her eight kills, and Eastern closed out the frame with a 20-11 win. Natalie Saxton had a pair of solo blocks in the set.

Seven different Eastern players picked up kills in a 25-15 third-set win. Viviana Fragoso had three digs in the third set.

Elle Jiron-Bujanda finished the match with 24 assists.

"Viviana and Hannah were both able to have a big impact in their first collegiate starts," Birtwistle continued. "We will look to build on this for tomorrow."

The Eagles will play tomorrow at Franklin and Marshall College against the host Diplomats and against Lynchburg.