WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Bridgewater Eagles volleyball team earned hard-fought victories on Saturday at the Worthington Classic held by Gallaudet as they defeated North Park, 3-2 in the morning, followed by a 3-2 win over Mary Washington in the evening.

The Eagles started off slow in their first match with North Park, but battled back to win the five-game match with scores of 13-25, 20-25, 25-23, 25-16 and 15-8, respectively.

The Vikings jumped out to a 7-0 lead before a kill by Maddy Carter forced the side out and scored the first point for the Eagles. North Park took advantage of Bridgewater miscues and had key offensive points to boost its lead to 19-7, forcing a Bridgewater timeout. Katie Long notched a kill coming out of the timeout and a kill by Megann Grimes cut the lead to 23-13, but Bridgewater couldn't recover and fell by a 25-13 tally.

To start the second game, North Park built an early 2-0 lead, but Shannon Skellchock served four straight points, including an ace and put the Eagles up 4-2. The Vikings went on a few runs and took the lead with a 13-7 tally. Kills by Grimes, Abby Mills and Rachel Donaldson brought the Eagles within two, 15-13. A service ace by Ashley Weik cut the lead to 20-23, but Bridgewater was unable to gain any more points and lost 25-20.

The Eagles came out strong in the third set and took a 6-1 advantage and kills by Mills and Grimes boosted the lead to 10-4. North Park fought back and locked the game at 13-13, but Bridgewater took back the momentum with kills by Megan Lookabaugh, Grimes, Mills and Carter, putting the Eagles up 19-15.

A block by Lookabaugh and Donaldson gave Bridgewater the 24-20 advantage before a Mills kill finally ended the set, 25-23, handing the Eagles the win.

Down two sets to one, the Eagles came out with a vengeance in the fourth frame with three kills from Carter within the Eagles' first 10 points to give Bridgewater a 10-5 lead.

Bridgewater never let up and used a number of North Park errors to continue its lead. A Long kill followed by a Grimes ace put the Eagles up 21-14 before Mills notched a kill to end the set, 25-16.

The two teams battled in the early points of the fifth set, tying the game at 4. Bridgewater used kills from Lookabaugh, Mills and Grimes to give the Eagles a 10-7 advantage. The Vikings were unable to recover and gain back points and after a Lindsay Kallam service ace, Grimes and Carter ended the match with kills, 15-8.

Four players notched double-digit kills, with Long leading the way with 13 followed by Mills with 11 and Carter and Grimes both had 10. Skellchock tallied 30 assists for the game, while Chelsea Owensby had 13 digs. Ashley Weik added five service aces to the offensive efforts.

Shelby Switzer led the way for the Vikings with 25 kills and chipped in 10 digs for the double-double. Abigail McKowen dished out 50 assists.

The second match of the day was dependent on how the team's finished in their respective pools and then played the team with the same ranking in the other pool. Bridgewater ended up finishing second and played Mary Washington University.

The teams traded games back and forth, keeping all spectators on their toes. Bridgewater took set one with a 25-18 tally, while Mary Washington took game two and three by scores of 25-22 and 25-19, respectively. Bridgewater claimed the fourth game, 25-18 and finished out the match with a 15-13 victory in the fifth set.

Both teams traded points early on in the set before a service ace by Mills, followed by two kills by Long and Donaldson put Bridgewater up 21-14. Bridgewater used crucial Mary Washington miscues before back-to-back kills by Mills handed Bridgewater the 25-18 victory.

The second set started off the same way with the teams exchanging points before a run bookended by Lookabaugh kills put the Eagles up 12-7. Mary Washington went on a run and took a 14-13 lead to force a Bridgewater timeout. A Grimes kill gave Bridgewater its last lead of the set, 16-14 and were unable to defend the Mary Washington attacks and fell 25-22.

Mary Washington started off with two early runs to build its lead to 13-8 before a kill by Donaldson forced the side out. Bridgewater went on a streak of its own, scoring seven of the 10 points, with kills chipped in from Grimes and Long and a service ace from Mills to cut the lead to 21-18. Bridgewater was unable to hold off the Eagles from Mary Washington and dropped 25-19.

The teams locked the fourth set at 6 and 7 before a kill by Donaldson and back-to-back kills by Lookabaugh gave Bridgewater a 10-7 advantage. Bridgewater continued to build its lead with strong offensive efforts, including four blocks to go up 22-14, and used late Mary Washington errors to take the 25-18 win.

Every point in the fifth set was a battle with competitive rallies and impressive offense from both teams. Mary Washington jumped to an early 2-0 lead, but Bridgewater quickly tied it up with kills from Donaldson and Grimes. Mary Washington was able to side out, but the Bridgewater Eagles went on a four point run with another Grimes kill and a Mills ace to give them the 8-5 advantage.

A kill by Carter kept the Eagles lead at 9-6, but Mary Washington used back-to-back kills to cut the lead to one, 9-8. Lookabaugh put the Eagles back on top, 11-10, with a kill and Mills notched a kill to lock the game at 12-12. Mary Washington committed a few errors before Mills put the game away with a kill and gave Bridgewater the 15-13, hard-fought victory.

Long earned all-tournament honors after her performances this weekend.

Grimes led the way for the Eagles with 13 kills and eight blocks, while Mills notched a double-double effort with 12 kills and 16 digs. Kallam dished out 27 assists on the night.

For Mary Washington, Emma Olson earned a double-double with 16 kills and 30 assists, while Kaitlynn Wickersham notched a game-high 17 digs.

Bridgewater will be back in action on Wednesday as they take on Lynchburg at home for an Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) match-up. Start time is set for 7 p.m.