ST. DAVIDS, Pa.—
Grace Cooper reached 1,000 career digs in the first set and
Sarah Furey reached her 1,000 career assist in the second set, and Eastern University WOmen's Volleyball ground out a three-set win over the visiting Alvernia University Golden Wolves.
Alexis Standford led the Eastern offense with a match-best 13 kills.
Though Cooper hit her milestone early, the Eagles (13-9, 7-0) struggled out of the gate, and Head Coach Mark Birtwislte called a timeout with his team down 10-6. Standford delivered a kill out of the break to stop the Alvernia run. After the two teams traded two-point bursts,
Emma Ciesielka delivered a six-point serving run to give the Eagles a 15-12 lead.The Golden Wolves (10-13, 3-4) tied the set at 17 before the Eagles slowly pulled out to a 23-18 lead behind serving from
Olivia McGowan and
Veronica Faber. Standford had a pair of kills in the run.
Alvernia, however, did not go quietly. Olivia VonNeida converted on a setter dump for a sideout and then served for three points. Zoe Velez had a block and a kill as the guests closed the gap to a single point at 23-22. Standford delivered a kill for a sideout and a pair of set points. The Eagles missed on an out-of-system swing on their first chance, but Standford put away her seventh ball of the set to claim a 25-23 win.
Piper Xeller had six kills in the first and
Jessie Schreiber had three. Cooper had eight of her 15 digs in the first set and Furey, made a big step toward her milestone with 13 first-set assists.
Eastern's sophomore setter came into the match 17 assists short of 1000, she hit her milestone on a
Lane McLaughlin kill midway through the second set. Ciesielka put the Eagles in front 6-2. The guests closed the gap, but huge serving run from Faber kept the Golden Wolves off balance and pushed the Eagles into an 18-8 lead. Eastern hit .346 with nine kills and no hitting errors in winning the second set 25-10.
C'hannah Lawson came on and had two kills late as Furey spread the ball around to multiple hitters.
After getting blown out in the second, the guests showed good fight to keep things tight in the third. Though they came out on top by a 26-24 score, the Eagles' only 3-point lead came on. Faber serving run at 19-16. Alvernia led 23-22 before the Eagles earned a sideout and Cooper delivered an ace to give the Eagles a match point. The Golden Wolves turned away the match point with a big block, but Schreiber delivered to give the Eagles a second match point. Schreiber then served out the match.
Xeller finished with 10 kills and Furey had 29 assists and 11 aces. Standford came into today's match 19 kills short of 1000 for her career.
The Eagles remain atop the MAC Standings and will finish their league slate next Wednesday at home against Stevenson, the winner of that match will earn the top seed in the upcoming MAC Commonwealth Tournament. Alvernia will host Hood in what seems likely to be a play-in game. Four teams, including Alvernia and Hood, are currently sitting at 3-4 in the league. Neumann plays Widener and York plays Messiah.
"Congrats to Coop and Sarah on their milestones," Head Coach
Mark Birtwistle said after the match. "Coop has been a staple in our defense for 4 years, and Sarah's athleticism really shines through as a setter."
The Eagles will host Lynchburg and DeSales in a tri-match on Saturday. The program will honor their seniors, Cooper, Standford, and Schreiber during the day.
