It was not easy, but the Eastern University volleyball team advanced to the 2nd Round of the NCAA Tournament with a 3-1 win over Frostburg State. The Eagles hit .285 as a team and held the Bobcats to a .172 percentage to advance.

Courtney Reinhold set the tone for the match early with seven kills in a 25-21 first set win. The Eagles jumped to a 5-1 lead out of the gate on Mary Poole's serve and never trailed in the opening set. The sixth seeded Bearcats managed to tie the set at 19 before a pair of atack errors and a Reinhold kill gave the Eagles a 22-19 edge. The Eagles closed out the first set on kills from Reinhold, Heather Kauffman, and Rachel Wenger.

The second set was point to point throughout as neither team was able to find separation. Frostburg broke a 23-23 tie and scored on serve to earn the second set win. The Eagles struggled to get their attack going in the second set as they hit just .094 with only seven kills in the second set. While the Eastern attack scuffled, the Frostburg attack ran straight through 3-time AMCC Player of the Year Brooke Winterling. The senior middle pounded out ten of her match-best 24 kills in the second set to lift the Bobcats.

The Eagles found themselves again in the third set. Wenger set the tone early with three kills in a five point span, but it was Reinhold's service that opened up the game for the Eagles. The sophomore All-American pound out three consecutive aces in a 6-0 run on serve to lift the Eagles to an 18-11 advantage. From there, the Eagles were able to side-out and win the set 25-16. Sophomores Nikki Kummerer and Mary Poole combined on a block to close out the set. The Eagles hit an efficient .455 in the third set.

Wenger took over the match in the fourth set. The rookie from Garden Spot High School put down four kills in five points to help the Eagles build a a 7-4 lead. Eastern rode that momentum to a 25-19 fourth set win. She would finish the day with 15 kills on just 28 swings. 

The young Eagles, who played just one upperclassman on the day, seemed to get more comfortable as the match progressed. Two time Freedom Conference Player of the Year Maria Horning guided the Eastern attack with 40 assists while putting down six kills of her own. 

Reinhold, Kummerer, and Kelly Groff each picked up 14 digs to lead the Eastern defense. Reinhold finished with 16 kills.

Eastern head coach Mark Birtwistle said of the day, "They were very good, and their two outsides (Winterling and Sarah Stevens) really made it tough for us. We had to pass well to side out, and we did a really good job with that. Both teams sided out well, but we were just enough better to advance."

The Eagles advance to tomorrow afternoon's Regional Semifinal against Haverford College. A three-set winner over Richard Stockton in the second match of the day at Juniata. Haverford handed the Eagles one of their four losses this year in a five set thriller at Haverford. The match, at Juniata College,  is scheduled to begin at 4:30.