ST. DAVIDS, Pa.– Eastern University Women's Volleyball opened the MAC Commonwealth season with a convincing three-set win over the visiting York College Spartans. In just their second home match of the 2023 campaign, the Eagles served aggressively throughout and were able to hit efficiently enough to keep the Spartans under 20 in all three sets. 

The Eagles hit only .103 in the opening set, but six aces put the Spartans behind the numbers. Elle Jiron-Bujanda and Viviana Faragoso each had a pair of aces on the way to a 13-6 lead. Hannah Pringle had four of her ten kills in the first set, and the Eagles raced to a 25-14 win. Despite giving up three aces, the Eagles were successful on 12-of-15 sideout chances in the frame.

Hitting .346, the Eastern offense was much improved in the second set, but with eight more aces, the team was only credited with 11 kills Bridgette Kelly, Logan Martin, and Pringle each had three kills, and the Eagles again won 25-14. Kelly had three aces in the set. 

The two teams were tied at 13 in the third set before a pair of points with Jiron-Bujanda serving gave the Eagles a little breathing room. The Eagles did not have an ace in the final set, but they did continue to serve aggressively and were able to score at least one point on five of their final six servers. The Eagles closed out the match with success on seven of their final eight sideout chances. Martin had the final kill of the match to finish with nine total. The junior middle hitter finished at .615 with a pair of blocks in the match. 

"It's good to start with a win in the conference," Head Coach Mark Birtwistle said after the match. "We served really well early and then got a little more cautious in the third set. We had some of our issues receiving as well, but we were able to sideout well to end the third."

The Eagles will host Haverford and Penn State-Berks in a tri-match on Saturday. The Eagles and Fords will play at 10 am to start the day.