ASHLAND, Va.– Playing for the third time in four nights, Eastern University Men's Volleyball dropped a pair of tough three-set decisions on the opening day of the Randolph-Macon Invitational. The Eagles dropped their opener to the Marymount University Saints and after only a few minutes of rest fell to the host Yellow Jackets.

The game against the Saints was a rematch of a contest from the first weekend of the season. Marymount (5-2) was an NCAA Tournament team in 2022. They hit .301 in the match and put pressure on the Eagles without aggressive serving throughout. Lucas Adam had seven kills and Justin Flor had six. The Eagles had a serve to tie the opening set at 24, but the Saints earned the final point of the set.

The Yellow Jackets (4-3) came in off a tough five-set loss to California Lutheran in their opening game of the night. Though both teams extended themselves in the opening match, the deeper Yellow Jackets came out with energy early and used a boost from their home crowd to pull away to 25-10 win in the first set. The Eagles got closer each set but were not able to extend the match to a fourth set.

Andres Suarez Batista led the Eagles with nine kills, and Josiah Cash had six kills and two blocks.

The Eagles will play the Roanoke College Maroons (4-3) tomorrow at 1:00 pm.