WASHINGTON, D.C.— Eastern University Women's Volleyball (6-0)continued its winning ways with a pair of three-set wins at Catholic University. The Eagles needed nearly two hours to grind out a tough win over the host Cardinals before keeping their winning streak alive with a decisive victory over FDU-Florham. IN the two matches, Hannah Pringle hit .360 with 34 kills. Viviana Fragoso had 26 digs. 

Coming into the day, the Eagles knew the match against Catholic (1-3) would be a big test. The hosts did not disappoint. In the opening set, the Eagles served to an early lead, but the Cardinals caught up and used a big net-presence for a block and a 19-18 lead. After an Eastern timeout, the Eagles answered with a block. Josie Arezina and Maddie Golia combined to stop the Catholic run and tie the score at 19. Alexis Standford gave the Eagles some breathing room with a three-point serving run. After the teams traded sideouts, Fragosa served out the set for a 25-20 win. The final point came on an ace. 

The Eagles had 14 kills in the first set, but the Catholic defense forced 10 errors held them to a .080 hitting percentage. Led by Standford's ten first-set digs,  Eastern defense had 24 digs and limited the hosts to only nine kills on 45 swings. 

Though the Eagles did not trail in for any amount of time in the second set, they could not pull away. Standford pounded home a kill to put Eastern up 24-21, but the Cardinals found three points to tie the score at 24. Standford stopped the run with another kill for a 25-24 lead, the teams then traded sideouts before Arezina finished things with a solo block and a 27-25 win. 

Eastern hit .283 in the second set. Fragoso had eight digs and Standford and Pringle each had seven kills. Taylor Stone delivered nine assists. 

The Eagles closed the door with good execution in the third. A big service run from Veronica Faber gae the Eagles a 10-4 lead. She delivered another big run late in the set for a 21-13 edge. Pringle ended the match at 25-16 with her 18th kill. Standford had 14 kills and 13 digs and Fragoso had 16 digs and was without error in serve-receive. Sarah Furey delivered 17 assists. 

In the series dating back to 2008, Eastern has not lost a set in 17 matches against FDU-Florham. The two schools both competed int he MAC Freedom from 2008 until Eastern left to join the MAC Commonwealth in 2020. 

On short rest, the Eagles cruised to a 25-12 win in the opening set and then moved some players around in the final two sets. The Eagles were successful on 30-of-39 sideout opportunities against FDU-Florham. Standford had four kills and two aces  in the first set before taking the rest of the day off. Pringle had 16 kills on 30 swings and Furey had 20 assists and Kallie Rogers had 14. Carleigh Orr had five kills in the final two sets. 

Eastern won the second set 25-16 and hit .472 in the third for a 25-10 win. 

"It was a very positive day, Head Coach Mark Birtwistle said after the win. "The competition against Catholic was a very good test for our young team and we responded well in tight moments. Hannah led us in kills with a good mix of shots and power. Lexi had a big double-double in the first match. 

The Eagles will play their first home game of the year this Friday against the Stockton University Ospreys. That match is scheduled for a 5:30 start.