ASTON, Pa. - Eastern Men's Volleyball earned its fourth win of the young season on Thursday night with a three-set sweep of Neumann. The Eagles (4-5) hit .274 for the match, which included a .579 hitting percentage in the opening set, and first-year middle hitter
Trey Broussard had a career-best outing. Eastern controlled both the first and third set, while overcoming a Neumann set point to win 29-27 in the second.
Broussard finished with a season-high 12 kills on 18 kills, good for a .667 hitting percentage, to go along with a service ace, three digs, and one block assist.
Colby Arvesen ended the match with nine terminations, while
Kaodi Wokocha recorded eight.
Ronan Landis and
Josh Hrabosky combined for 33 assists and
Symir Byrd led the defensive effort with seven digs.
The Eagles dominated the opening set, 25-10, recording 13 kills on 19 swings. Broussard recorded six of his team-high 12 kills in the set. Eastern led 9-3 early and built its advantage to 22-7 before cruising to a 15-point win.
The second set was the most competitive of the match as the two teams traded blows. The Knights took a 5-2 lead early before the Eagles battled back with five straight points, which included kills from Arvesen, Wokocha, Hrabosy, and
Roman Hill, to go up 7-5. After Eastern went up 13-8, Neumann answered with a 6-1 run to tie the set at 14-14. The Eagles eventually got to set point, leading 24-20, before the Knights again battled back to grab a 25-24 advantage and a chance to tie the match at 1-1. The Eagles held off the Knights on a big kill from Broussard, before back-to-back termination from Wokocha, another from
Ian Leeds, and a Neumann hitting error gave the Eagles a two-set advantage.
Eastern rode that momentum into the final set. The Eagles took an early 10-5 lead, and did not allow Neumann to get closer than five points the rest of the way. Broussard and Arvesen each recorded four kills in the final set.
Eastern will be back in action on Saturday in Arlington for a tri-match with Marymount and Virginia Wesleyan.
