CHICAGO— Eastern University Women's Volleyball dropped a pair of five set decisions on the final day of the Windy City Invitational hosted by North Park University. The Eagles (2-4) rallied to force a fifth set with a fourth-set win in their opener against Kalamazoo College before seeing a 2-1 lead disappear in the second match against the host Vikings. Including a 29-dig effort in the opener,
Grace Cooper finished with 46 digs on the day.
The Eagles won their opening set of the day with a 25-21 win.
Josie Arezina and
Jessie Schreiber each put away three balls and
Olivia McGowan had a pair of aces.
The Hornets (2-4) rallied to win the next two sets before the Eagles extended the match with a wire-to-wire win in the fourth. McGowan led the way in the frame with five kills. The first-year outside hitter finished the match with 10 kills, 18 digs, and two aces.
After an even start through seven, the Hornets scored eight of the final nine points of the match to claim the win.
The Eagles took the middle two sets against the hosts. North Park won the opener 25-20, before the Eagles used three aces and four blocks to claim the second set 25-16. A big scoring run with
Alyssa Heffner at the service line pushed Eastern to an 8-1 lead in the third. North Park closed the gap to three before
Sarah Furey and
Veronica Faber each put together runs to build the lead up to 19-10.
The eagles were able to sideout their way to a 25-14 win. Arezina had five kills and a block in the frame.
Playing their first match of the day, the hosts found their legs and hit .244 for a 25-20 win in the fourth. Like the first match, the fifth set was again tied at seven. The Vikings pulled away to a 15-9 win.
"We have to keep giving ourselves the opportunity to win matches," Head Coach
Mark Birtwistle said after the match. "We're hoping some of these close matches give us needed experience and turn into wins."
The Eagles start MAC Commonwealth play at York College on Wednesday. They are slated to play Haverford on Friday evening. That match, originally scheduled as a home match, is being moved to Haverford on Friday because of construction in the gym.
