ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. - Eastern Men's Volleyball earned its second win of the young season on Tuesday night with a three-set sweep of the Elizabethtown Blue Jays. First-year outside hitter
Kaodi Wokocha recorded double-digit kills for the second straight match, and sophomore outside hitter
Connor Tucholski hit a robust .714 to lead the Eagles to their first-ever win over the Blue Jays in men's volleyball.
Wokocha, fresh off his 15-kill performance against Elmira, notched another 14 against the Blue Jays. The Galloway, N.J. native was a force at the net throughout the match, recording an equally impressive .345 hitting percentage. Tucholski was just as proficient on the right side, recording 10 kills on 14 swings while finishing with zero attack errors.
Eastern's defense was on par with on with the offense as the Eagles limited the Blue Jays to a .163 hitting percentage. Sophomore
Symir Byrd and first-year
Ronan Landis combined for 20 digs. Landis, together with sophomore
Josh Hrabosky, orchestrated the Eastern offense with a combined 33 assists in the victory.
The Eagles took control of the first set with a five-point run in the early stages. With the Blue Jays leading by four, a pair of kills from Tucholski, another from Wokocha, and a
Max Bagileo service ace put the Eagles ahead 7-4. The Blue Jays cut the lead down to two at 10-8, but Eastern used an 8-3 run to push its advantage to seven. Six of those points came on Elizabethtown errors. The Eagles went on to win the set 25-19.
The second set opened with a 3-3 tie, before Eastern scored five-straight points to rake another lead they would not relinquish. Tucholski began the run with back-to-back kills, and three straight Elizabethtown errors put the Eagles ahead 8-3. Wochoka and
Symir Byrd combined for five kills to make it a 16-9 Eastern advantage, and after a brief push from the Blue Jays, the Eagles ended the set on a 8-3 run to win 25-17 and take a two-set lead.
Both teams made their runs in the third set. Trailing 12-11, the Eagles scored four straight points to go up 15-12. The Blue Jays countered, using their own five-point run to turn a one-point deficit into a two-point lead. Elizabethtown scored just two points the rest of the way as the Eastern defense stiffened. Wokocha shut the door with three kills in the Eagles' final six points, including the game-winner.
After three straight away contests, Eastern will open the home portion of its schedule next Thursday, Jan. 23, in a rematch with Wilkes University at The NEST. The match is set to begin at 7:00 pm.
