DALLAS, Pa.— Eastern University Men's Volleyball rallied from two sets down but fell just short in the program's pursuit of a first post-season win in a five-set loss at Misericordia. The Eagles (14-15) trailed by three in the fifth set before rallying again to take a three-point lead at 13-10, but the fourth-seeded Cougars (19-12) won six of the final seven points of the match to claim a 16-14 win in the final set and the right to advance. Colby Arvesen finished with a match-high 17 kills.

The Eagles scored the first seven points of the match, but things quickly went south from there. The Cougars  put together big serving runs and held the Eagles to a negative hitting percentage on the way to a 25-19 win the first set.

While the first set closed poorly, the second set went worse. The Eagles hit a positive number, but the Cougars pounded out kills at a .333 rate and rolled to a 25-15 win.

While the Cougars may have been expecting a short night, the Eagles refused to roll over. The third set went point-by-point without many big runs, but the Eagles were behind by a point or two for almost the entire set. An Arvesen ace put the Eagles within a point, and Ronin Landis slammed home a kill With Edwin Broussard at the service line for a 24-23 lead.

The Cougars answered but the Eagles had the numbers in their favor as the teams traded sideouts to 26-25. Arvesen and Ian Leeds delivered a block with Kaodi Wokocha serving to earn the 27-25 win and force a fourth set. Wokocha and Arvesen each had three kills as the Eagles hit .556 in the frame.

Eastern was successful on 65 percent of sideout chances in the second set. The Eagles were better in the fourth. Eastern took a 6-2 lead early with Broussard serving. The Cougars clawed back to  13-13, but a big kill from Arvesen stopped the run and Ronan Landis scored a pair of points at the service line to put the Eagles back up 16-13. Wokocha pounded out a kill and Connor Tucholski delivered a solo block. With the Eagles passing well and swinging aggressively, that edge held to the end of the frame and the Eagles forced a fifth with a 25-21 win.

The teams traded sideouts early in the fifth until the Cougars scored a pair of points to go up 7-4.

After a sideout, Kino Tuitupou came on to serve for a point. The Eagles broke into the lead with a four-point run with Arvesen at the service line. Landis had a kill and paired with Broussard on a pair of blocks to put Eastern up 13-10.

The Eagles had a match point at 14-13, but Misericordia senior Ben Clendenning delivered a kill before going back to serve the final two points of the match.

Landis had 33 assists, Symir Byrd finished with nine assists, and Broussard had six kills, five blocks, and two aces.

Misericordia will travel to top-seeded Stevens for a MAC Semifinal on Thursday.