EATON — The Eagles’ volleyball team moved to 3-1 in the SWBL after a win in straight sets (25-20, 25-18, 25-11) over Waynesville on Thursday, Sept. 9.
Junior Olivia Baumann led Eaton with 14 kills on the night as the teams battled back-and-forth.
In the first set, eventually tied at 11-all, the Eagles would go on an eight-point run to take a 19-11 lead.
While the Spartans attempted a comeback in the set, cutting the deficit to as close as 23-19, the Eagles prevailed with a 25-20 win.
“Honestly, in the first set when we got to 20, I wasn’t real happy with our energy,” Eaton coach Parker Fields said. “I think that you always want the game to kind of – you want to settle into a match. Against a team like this, the start for me, I wasn’t super happy with it. I didn’t feel like we were being the aggressor. I didn’t feel like we were being – we weren’t winning the intangibles right off the bat. I felt like we were kind of flat a little bit. As the set went on, our energy level kind of picked up and that’s when you saw the separation.”
Eaton continued playing the Spartans close in the second set, fighting tooth and nail for a 10-all tie. Like the first set, the Eagles capitalized on a number of consecutive rallies to take a 21-14 lead.
Waynesville made it a five-point set at 23-18, but Eaton had no difficulties securing the final two points for the 25-18 win in set two.
“We had to do the little things. When you play a really tough team, sometimes they put you back on your heels,” Fields said. “Against a team like Waynesville, we knew that we kind of had the edge going in, especially offensively. Defensively, we were on our toes tonight. I felt like when you pass the ball aggressively, you’re going to be able to run your offense. Against a team like this, it’s good, because they’re gonna challenge you a little bit.”
After two close opening sets, Eaton busted the contest wide open with a 25-11 win in the third, leading by as many as 17 points (23-6) during the set.
“Going into the meat and potatoes of the season and getting into the tournament, I mean, you’re going to get into some good volleyball, and go back and forth here,” Fields said. “Waynesville did that with us through the first two sets. That kind of led us in to play with some more energy, dig in in the third set, maybe serve a little tougher.”
Sophomore Ellie Wilson followed Baumann up with 10 kills on 13 total attempts. Junior Bailey Jerdon paced the Eagles with 33 assists on 39 total team kills. Junior Lily Shepherd led with eight digs, while juniors Elsie Hewitt and Paige Pitsinger each added seven digs.
Earlier in the week, the Eagles defeated Carlisle in straight sets (25-5, 25-6, 25-4) on Tuesday, Sept. 7, and fell later in the week to Fairmont in four sets on Saturday, Sept. 11.
The Eagles are scheduled to play at Madison on Tuesday, Sept. 14 at 6:30 p.m. and at home against Brookville on Thursday, Sept. 16 at 7 p.m.
