ST. DAVIDS, Pa.– Even with injuries forcing an adjusted line-up, Eastern University Men's Volleyball competed throughout in a pair of MAC Commonwealth matches against two of the top teams in the nation. The Eagles (10-13, 2-5) lost in three competitive sets to the top-ranked Stevens Institute of Technology Ducks (27-2, 7-0) in the opening game of the tri-match and fell in four sets to the No. 5 Messiah University Falcons (22-3, 7-1) in the nightcap. Stevens beat Messiah in the middle game of the day to secure the top seed in the upcoming MAC Playoffs.

After dropping the first two sets to the Falcons, 25-19, and 25-22, the Eagles grabbed the lead at 21-20 in the fourth set. The Eagles earned a single point on serve from Jeremiah Pha and were able to side out to take the set 25-23. Eastern led 16-15 in the fourth set after a three-point run with Andres Suarez Batista at the service line, but Messiah got a strong run of serves from Nate Bowman to go up 24-17 before Max Bagileo put down a kill to stop the run. The visiting Falcons earned a side-out to end the match. 

In the Messiah match, Josiah Cash had 11 kills and hit .304. Tiger Winston had 10 kills and hit .450. Pha, in his third match setting this year, finished with 35 assists. 

Against Stevens, Bagileo hit .364 with five kills and a block and Cash had nine kills and six blocks. The Eastern offense, however, hit a negative number against the formidable Stevens' block. The Ducks finished with 11 stuff blocks and consistently softened the Eastern attack with active hands at the net.

Eastern scored 17 points in the first set, 15 in the second and 18 in the third. Pha finished with 20 assists. 

The Eagles will close out their season at Wilkes on Wednesday.