LANCASTER, Pa.— Eastern University Men's Volleyball battled to a five-set loss at Lancaster Bible College and after a short turnaround dropped a three-set decision to the No. 9 Southern Virginia Knights.  

The Eagles (9-11) won the opening two sets against their hosts. They hit .308 with a balanced attack to win the opener 25-20 and pulled away late in the second set to win 25-23. The two teams were matched at 20-20, but the Eagles used kills from Colby Arvesen and Edwin Broussard to gain a set point. The Eagles earned a sideout on an error to claim the set despite hitting only .148 in the frame. 

The Eagles held a 20-16 lead in the third, but the Lancers fought off the Eastern sweep with a pair of three-point runs late to win 25-22. After LBC won 25-18 in the fourth, the Eagles had chances in the fifth. Eastern tied the set at 9-9 on a kill from Kaodi Wokocha, but an LBC sideout and three points on serve put the hosts up 13-9. A kill from Broussard stopped the run, but LBC was able to earn sideouts for the win. 

Connor Tucholski had 12 kills and five blocks and Arvesen had 11. Ronan Landis finished with 37 assists and Symir Byrd had a match-best 20 digs. Broussard had six kills and six blocks. 

After a quick turnaround, the Eagles hung with the Knights in each of the first two sets, but in each Southern Virginia (15-2) was able to find the margin to win. The Knights won 25-19 and 25-20 to start and hit .310 with six se4rvice aces in the third to win 25-17. The Eagles hit .304 in the third, but the aces were a clear difference in the set. 

Eastern will return to the league for a game at Stevens on March 11.