FREDERICK, Md. – Eastern University Men's Volleyball improved to 2-1 in the MAC with a three-set win at Hood College. The short-handed Eagles ground out a pair of close wins in the opening two sets before pulling away to a 25-14 win in the third. Josiah Cash led the Eagles with eight kills and a .500 hitting percentage.

The Eagles (10-11, 2-1) went up 24-21 on a kill by Cash in the opening set, but the Blazers fought off three set points before Lucas Adam stopped the Hood run with a kill. After the two teams traded sideouts, Adam served the Eagles to a 27-25 win in the opening set. Adam had three kills in the first frame. The Eagles won the set despite hitting only .042. Hood hit just .029 and had 12 hitting errors against Eastern's block. Cash and Jarred Barch each had a pair of blocks.

Both teams had more efficient offense in the second set, but the Eagles again were unable to finish the set easily. Up 23-20, the Eagles actually had to fight off set points at 24-23 and 26-25. The Eagles flipped the momentum of the game when Chris Miller and Cash combined on a block with Aiden Alfaro serving to give the Eagles a set point. After the teams traded sideouts, Eastern finally converted with Cash a at the service line. Cash had four kills and a block in the 30-28 win.

On a strong run of serves from Lucas Adam to start the third, the Eagles pulled away to a 9-2 lead. The seven-point lead was more than enough as the Eagles were successful on 14-of-15 sideout chances in the final set to run away to a 25-14 win.

Chris Miller finished with 25 assists and five digs. Eastern had seven aces and only two receiving errors.

The Eagles will look to get some players back to full health heading into Saturday's match at Stevens Institute of Technology. The defending MAC Champion Ducks are ranked third in the country. The Eagles played second ranked Southern Virginia early in the year.