ST. DAVIDS, Pa.– To Celebrate Senior Day, Eastern University Women's Volleyball (18-8) hit .266 on the way to a three-set win over the visiting Rowan University Profs.
Hannah Pringle finished with a match-best 13 kills.
Though the Eagles honored five seniors before the match, it was the final regular-season home match for eight players.
Grace Nealy,
Trinity Gruber,
Bridgette Kelly,
Natalie Saxton, and
Logan Martin will all finish their undergraduate studies and eligibility.
Grace Casagrande,
Elle Jiron-Bujanda, and
Jailene Lugo were honored last year but all came back as graduate students to reclaim the year of competition lost to COVID.
Though Eastern never trailed in a set, the Profs made things interesting with a late rally in the opener. With Gruber at the service line, the Eagles stretched a 19-18 lead to 24-18, but Rowan setter Brooke Adams stayed aggressive on the serve and forced Head Coach
Mark Birtwistle to use both time outs. At 24-24, Kelly put away a kill for a sideout and
Viviana Fragoso came on to serve out the set. Pringle finished the frame with a kill in transition for a 26-24 win.
Even with 16 kills, the Eagles hit only .200 in the opening set and converted just over half of their sideout chances. Both Gruber and Casagrande had seven digs as the Eagles held their guests to a .100 hitting percentage.
The Profs were within a point at 14-13 in the second set before the Eagles got points on serve from Kelly, Jiron-Bujanda, and
Grace Cooper. Kelly and Lugo finished the set at 25-28 with a block for a sideout. The Eagles hit .289 with 17 kills in the second. Casagrande added eight more digs, and Jiron-Bujanda dished out 13 assists. Saxton and Pringle each had five kills int he second.
Kelly served the Eagles to a 4-0 lead in the third, but the Profs closed the gap to 8-7 with Gabriella Cooper serving. Cooper, the younger sister of Eastern's defensive specialist, had the chance to serve at her sister, but the rotations did not set up for Grace to return the favor.
After the teams traded sideouts to 11-10, the final six Eastern servers all scored points while the Eagles were successful on six of their final seven sideout chances. The Eagles hit .324 with 15 kills in winning 25-16.
Jiron-Bujanda finished the match with 38 assists and 10 digs. Casagrande had 21 digs, and Gruber added 13. Kelly had nine kills, four blocks, and three aces. With her blocks she moved past the 350 block mark for her career and she is closing in on .200 aces.
The Eagles will host the York College Spartans in the opening round of the MAC Commonwealth Tournament on Monday night.
