In looking at the schedule for his young team, Eastern University Head Coach Mark Birtwistle had to look at this week as a major test. With five freshmen in the regular rotation, the Eagles passed the test with flying colors as they earned a pair of victories over nationally ranked opponents in a 3-0 week.

After downing #24 Stevens Tech in a midweek game, Eastern won a pair of home games on Saturday. They beat the University of Scranton in three sets in the morning match. After struggling to a first set loss against #18 Haverford College, the Eagles bounced back to win in four to push their season record to 15-0.

In their 3-0 win against Scranton, senior middle hitter Mandy Platt led the Eagles with 10 kills, 3 blocks, and an ace. First year outside hitters Mary Poole and Courtney Reinhold each chipped in with nine kills. Poole put down her nine kills on a very efficient twelve attempts. Reinhold added fourteen digs in a solid all-around effort.

Nicole Burns provided the Eagles with a presence at the net with a nine kill and five block morning. The strong hitting numbers for the Eastern middle hitters is testament to the solid passing of libero Nikki Kummerer and the rest of the Eastern team. Maria Horning continued to orchestrate the offense to perfection with 41 assists.  The Eagles hit a sparkling .472 for the match.

Eastern won their second match of the day in four sets as Reinhold (15K -2E -29TA .333) and junior Kara Hildebrand (11 kills and 2 blocks) led the Eastern attack. The Eagles looked shaky in the opening set, but rallied to win three sets in a row to topple their second nationally ranked opponent of the week. Platt put together another steady performance with 10 kills, 10 digs, and 4 blocks.

"We had to get ourselves prepared to compete." Birtwistle commented,"We really struggled in the first set, and Haverford took advantage. We started to change some things in the timeout of the first set, that I think helped us, but most importantly, the players regrouped and really battled. I thought our defense was great, and Nicole was really good for us at the net."

Horning picked up another 42 assists in the win. Eastern will play a mid-week match at home against Delaware Valley College on Tuesday before traveling to the Midwest for a tournament at Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill.