LANCASTER — The Eastern Lady Eagles (22-4) concluded their season Thursday evening with a four game loss at the hands of the Tuscarawas Central Catholic Lady Saints (24-2).

For the Lady Eagles, the victory in game three made history, giving the volleyball team the first regional game victory in school history. This was the sixth trip to regionals for the Lady Eagles, all under current head coach Howie Caldwell.

The Lady Saints jumped out to an early lead in game one, leading 4-0 before a Kasey Turley kill gave the Eagles another chance to serve. Neither team seemed to make a run in the early part of game one, with each team increasing just a few points at a time. TCC lead at the 24-15 mark, before Eastern went on a four point run to push closer to the Lady Saints. TCC stopped the Lady Eagle run, giving them the point to win 25-19 in game one.

TCC started game two with the serve, going up 1-0. Eastern quickly tied the game, and the score remained with in one to two points until a TCC run made it 14-10. Eastern matched the Lady Saints with a run of their own, tying the score again at 14. The score was tied at 17, before a few untimely errors allowed TCC to take the lead at 20-19. The Lady Saints would not trail again, winning 25-21.

Game three began with an Eagles serve, and the Lady Eagles would never trail in game three. TCC tied the score on three occasions, at 1, 3, and 4, but could never overcome a strong Lady Eagle performance. With the score tied at four, TCC put a serve in the net giving Eastern the lead, then Lauren Cummings went on a four point run for the Lady Eagles to give them a 10-4 lead. TCC got close at 14-10 before the Lady Eagles again pulled away, leading by as many as eight in route to a 25-17 victory.

The net game of Jamie Swatzel, Beverly Maxson, Brenna Holter, and Kasey Turley helped the Eagles to overcome a net attack from TCC that was key to their previous two game victories.

Game four did not go as well for the Lady Eagles. TCC had the serve to start the game, and quickly led 7-0 before Eastern was able to serve the ball for the first time. The Lady Saints continued to dominate, leading 11-1. Eastern made a few small runs to get the TCC lead down to eight, before a five point run for the Lady Saints pushed the lead out to 13 points. Eastern was unable to rally, with TCC winning the game 25-11.

TCC won the match by scores of 25-19, 25-21, 17-25, and 25-11.

For the Lady Eagles, it was an end to a season that saw the TVC Hocking title return, as well as sectional and district championships for the Lady Eagles. The game three victory snapped the 15 game losing streak of the Lady Eagles at the regional level, and ended an 11 game wining streak for TCC, who had been unbeaten in their previous three contests this postseason.

Coach Howie Caldwell said, “this club has over achieved, no body at the beginning of the year thought we would win 22 games. We came up and won a game, that’s something no other club had ever done, and broke a little bit of ice, we didn’t break all the ice we wanted to but Rome wasn’t built in a day.”

Eastern was led in points by Britney Morrison with eight. Lauren Cummings added five points, Karissa Connolly and Sami Cummins each added four points, Brenna Holter had three points, Whitney Putman added two points, and Beverly Maxson had one point.

Kasey Turley led the Lady Eagles at the net with 11 kills and eight blocks in here final game for the green and white. Jamie Swatzel added 10 kills and one block, Maxson added nine kills and one block, Holter tallied seven kills, and Morrison added two kills.

The game was also the end of outstanding careers for Eastern seniors Lauren Cummings, Karissa Connolly, Whitney Putman, Sami Cummins, and Kasey Turley. Caldwell said, “we will miss the seniors tremendously, and we will have to rebuild from their.”

TCC was led in scoring by Molly Lawless with 12 points. Madison Bonamico added 10 points, Briana Neidig had eight points, Danielle Cugliari added six points, and Ali Seymore added four points. Lawless had 25 assists and Patchan added 21 assists.

At the net, Lawless added 16 kills and four blocks, Patchman had 33 kills and two blocks, Seymore added seven kills, Neidig had six kills, and Anna Martinelli added three blocks. Lawless and Neidig had 14 digs each, Patchan had 13 digs, Seymore added 10 digs, and Cugliari had seven digs.

TCC will face Pike Eastern Saturday at 2 p.m. for the regional title. Pike Eastern defeated Gilead Christian in five games in the second half of Thursday evening’s matches.