PHOENIXVILLE, Pa. - In its first of three matches, Eastern Men's Volleyball began the weekend on a high note with a three-set sweep of the Valley Forge Patriots on Friday evening. First-year
Kaodi Wokocha recorded his fifth double-digit kill performance in Eastern's last six matches, and the Eagles hit .301 as a team, collecting 34 kills on 83 swings.
Wokocha led the Eagles with 12 kills on 24 swings, good for a .417 hitting percentage, to go along with a season-best five service aces. Sophomore
Connor Tucholski finished with nine terminations, while senior
Max Bagileo collected four. First-year
Ronan Landis orchestrated the offense with 13 assists, and also led the defensive effort with seven digs.
Eastern scored the first two points of the opening set on a kill from Landis and a Valley Forge hitting error and led the rest of the way. Leading 7-6 earlier the set, the Eagles used a 9-2 run to put themselves in control to go up 16-8 en route to a 25-17 triumph. Tucholski finished with four kills in the set, while Wokocha recorded three. Furthermore, the Eagles went 15-of-18 (83 percent) on their side-out chances in the opener.
The two teams traded points early in the second set and eventually played to a 12-12 tie. From that moment, the Eagles grabbed the momentum, ending the set on a 12-3 surge to win 25-16. Bagileo recorded all four of his kills in the second set, while Tucholski recorded four more terminations.
Wokocha led the offense in the final set, collecting seven kills as the Eagles went on to win 25-17 to complete the sweep. The Eagles scored the first four points, which included a kill and service ace from
Josiah Cash. Valley Forge battled back to tie the match at 10-10, but the Eagles answered with an 8-3 surge to take a lead they would not relinquish. Valley Forge recorded five errors on 21 swings and just four kills in the final set.
Eastern (8-5) will be back in action for a pair of matches at The NEST. The Eagles will face off against Virginia Wesleyan at 10:00 am, followed by Immaculata at 2:00 pm.
