ST. DAVIDS, Pa.– Eastern University Women's Volleyball hit a stunning .451 for the match, and the Eagles rolled to a three-set win over the visiting Widener University Pride in the MAC Commonwealth opener for both teams. The Eagles (8-3, 1-0) put away 47 kills with only six errors and were successful on 31-of-39 sideout chances. Hannah Pringle had 16 kills, and Bridgette Kelly put away 12 balls on only 16 attacks.

From the outset, the Eastern servers put the Pride under pressure. Viviana Fragoso, Grace Casagrande, and Elle Jiron-Bujanda all scored points with their first serving opportunities. On the way to a 25-12 win in the opening set, Casagrande served eight times  with a pair of aces.

The two Casagrande aces were the only two of the first set, but the Pride 10-5 were stuck out of system, and the Eagles put away 18 kills and hit .548. Casagrande and Fragoso each had five digs and Trinity Gruber had six. Kelly went 5-for-6 on her attacks and Pringle hit .500 with six kills.

While the pride (10-5, 0-1)  slowed Eastern down a little in the second set, the Eagles still jumped to a 16-7 on the way to a 25-15 win. Pringle had six more kills. The Eagles changed line-ups later in the set, but still hit .384 as a group. Casagrande, who finished with a match-high 17, added six more digs.

After teh teams traded sideouts to start the third, the Eagles put together three massive serving runs to slam the door. Casagrande put the Eagles up 7-1. Jiron-Bujanda made it 11-2, and Grace Cooper served the Eagles to a 17-3 lead. The Pride forged a couple mini runs, but Fragoso and Emma Ditman served the Eagles to a 23-10 lead and Jiron Bujande ended the match with a quick dunk after a Pringle kill for a sideout. Jiron-Bujanda had 14 of her 37 assists in moving the ball around in the final set.

"We've been working on passing all week," Head Coach Mark Birtwistle said after the match. "We passed well and were able to get our middles involved early. I also thought we served well throughout the match."

The Eagles will have three big tests in Baltimore this weekend as they travel to Johns Hopkins for a tournament. They will take on the No. 5 hosts on Friday night and will play a 10-3 Cortland team and another national level program in the University of Mary Washington on Saturday.