SWARTHMORE, Pa. —Eastern University Women's Volleyball opened the 2026 season with a tough four-set road loss at Swarthmore College.
Piper Xeller led the Eagles with 10 kills and fellow first-year
Alyssa Heffner posted 19 assists and a pair of aces in her first collegiate match.
After dropping a pair of close decisions in the opening two sets, the Eagles broke through with a rally in the third. Trailing 17-14, Eastern closed the gap to one with a sideout kill from
Alexis Standford and a
Josie Arezina kill with
Olivia McGowan serving.
After the teams traded sideouts,
Grace Cooper delivered a six-point run at the service line to put the Eagles up 23-20.
Jessie Schreiber delivered the final kill for a 25-22 win. Schreiber had four of her eight kills in the third set. In the frame, Eastern had all six hitters pick up at least one kill and the team hit .244.
The host Garnet (1-0) served aggressively out of the gate in the fourth and put the Eagles in an early hole. After building a 9-2 edge, Swarthmore held a 21-10 lead before the Eagles closed the gap to 24-18 with a big service run from Heffner before the hosts ended it with an out-of-system kill.
"[It was a] Tough loss out of the gate," head Coach
Mark Birtwistle said, "but the team is learning what's important and what it takes to be competitive. We got solid work from our right sides. Jessie and Josie helped lead the offense."
Standford had nine kills, and Arezina,
Lane McLaughlin, and
Veronica Faber each had five kills. Cooper led the Eagles with 21 digs.
Sarah Furey and McGowan each had 12 digs.
The Eagles (0-1) will play a pair of matches at Moravian on Saturday. They will play the host Greyhounds at 11 am and will play the Dickinson College Red Devils after that match ends.
