Battlefield Classic is any indication, it appears that the Eagles are once again poised to make some noise in the Mid-Atlantic Region. Coach Birtwistle's young squad won four matches without dropping a set. Eastern beat host Gettysburg College and Frostburg State in Saturday's action.

Offensive execution was again the theme. The Eagles hit over .400 as a team for the tournament.  First year standout Courtney Reinhold put together a 13 point game with a .500 hitting percentage in the early morning win over the hosts. Kara Hildebrand continued to announce her return to the Eastern line-up with authority as she pounded 14 kills in a 15 point match. 

After winning the first set 25-18, the Eagles ran into some trouble in the second set. Birtwistle said of his teams' response, "we got a tough couple breaks in the second set, but they really fought back. I am very impressed with their toughness this early in the season." The Eagles, who had four freshmen on the floor for much of the day, battled back to take the second set 25-23. 

The Eagles used solid passing and good defense to close out the match with a 25-17 final set. Nikki Kummerer picked up a team-high 21 digs, first year setter Maria Horning continued to impress with a steady 36 assist effort.

As is the case in many invitationals, the Eagles had very little time to celebrate before taking on Frostburg State in their final game of the day. Once again, the young Eagles jumped to an early lead and kept the pressure on in the three set win. Horning picked up another 36 assists in the match. More impressive than her total numbers was the teams' four hitting errors in the match and .443 hitting percentage.

Senior middle Mandy Platt delivered in the final game with 12 kills on 19 swings for a 14 point match. Hildebrand delivered 13 kills. Kummerer and Reinhold each collected 13 digs for the Eagles.

Reinhold and Horning earned All-Tournament recognition for their weekend's work.

With the win, the Eagles improve to 6-0 on the year as they begin play in the Freedom Conference this Tuesday night with a 7:00 pm game at FDU-Florham. The match will be the Freedom Conference competition for any Eastern University team. In the preseason poll, the Red Devils were picked to finish second in the league--one spot ahead of the Eagles, who were picked to finish third.