The Eastside Eagles varsity volleyball team defeated a pair of county rivals Thursday night to sweep Senior Night, downing Newton High 2-1 and the Alcovy Tigers 2-0.

The Eagles dropped their first set to the Rams before rallying back 24-26, 25-10 and 25-21 to clinch their first win of the night.

Eastside handled the Tigers in two sets, defeating Alcovy 25-18 and 25-22.

The two wins were the last for the Eagles in the regular season before regional play starts on Oct. 10.

The Eagles honored seniors Kendall Denney, Kajia Barrett, Amanda Bolen and Kolyse Wagstaff between the two games.

“Getting the win tonight was special for the girls,” Eastside coach Michael Gerald said. “This is something that they will remember for the rest of their lives by getting a win on Senior Night. I’m happy for them that they came out and had a good showing.”

Eastside led for much of the first set against Newton, doubling up the Rams early 10-5 behind six service points from Denney. The Eagles took their largest lead of the first set up 17-10 on a 3-point run with a block from Denny and an ace from Dejahnae Saintilus.

Despite the Rams’ early setbacks, Newton rallied back, stunning the Eagles with five consecutive points to get back within a point at 23-22. The Rams tied the match at 24-24 with an Abigail Bugg kill before clinching the set with two Eastside hitting errors for a 26-24 victory.

In the second set, the Eagles wasted little time atoning for their first set mistakes, jumping out to a 12-5 lead on the Rams. Denney and Saintilus recorded kills during the run, while Saintilus also added a block for the Eagles.
Wagstaff extended Eastside’s advantage to 18-6 with four consecutive service points, notching a pair of aces during the run. Eastside outscored the Rams 7-4 over the final 11 points, winning the set 25-10.

In the game-deciding third set, both teams traded points until Wagstaff stepped up to the service line. The senior rolled off four service points thanks to four Newton hitting errors, and the Eagles clinched the set with back-to-back points off a Denney kill and a Ram error for a 25-21 win.

Wagstaff led the Eagles with 12 service points and three aces, while Denney had a team-high four kills. Kristine Cabane paced the Rams with 10 service points, while Bugg had five aces in the loss. Jalynn Cole also had five kills for the Rams.

Tigers tamed
The Eagles clinched a Senior Night sweep against Alcovy in their final match of the night, defeating the Tigers in two sets.

Both teams traded points until Bolen stepped to the service line and tallied seven consecutive service points, using three Alcovy hitting errors to edge the Tigers. Bolen's run gave Eastside a 22-15 lead. The Eagles clinched the set on an Alcovy service error for a 25-18 win.

In the second set, Alcovy led early, taking a 13-11 advantage behind a kill from Femke Stoelinga and an Aaliyah Goode kill.

Eastside took the lead on a Wagstaff kill and never looked back, closing the set on a 12-9 run for a 25-22 victory.