Eastern University Head Volleyball Coach Mark Birtwistle was a little concernedwith his team's practice on Friday night. His team quickly allayed hisconcerns with a sterling performance in the Freedom ConferenceChampionship on Saturday. The 23rd ranked Eagles dispatched secondseeded DeSales with frightening efficiency on their way to their second Freedom Conference Championship in a row.

Thehome side took the opening set 25-17 as they pounded 19 kills in 31attempts. The .548 first set hitting percentage was in part the resultof a strategy to attack on the right side. Freshman opposite Rachel Wenger pounded six of her 12 kills in the opening set. Birtwistle said of Wenger'sstart, "Rachel was really good. We knew their Libero was strong and wemade a choice to try to attack away from her, and Rachel put the ball away." Wenger finished the match with a .667 hitting percentage. 

Middlehitter Mary Poole, who would eventually earn Most Valuable Playerhonors for the Championship, also put down six balls in the Eagles'dominating opening set. Poole had been sick all week and practiced forthe first time on Friday. "She struggled a bit in practice yesterday,"Birtwistle commented, "but she was really good tonight." Poole finished with a match-best 13 kills, a solo block, and a block assist.

Afterpounding out the first set win, the Eagles turned around and puttogether an equally good second set. The Eastern defense headlined thesecond set as they picked up ball after ball and held the Bulldogs to 5kills.Birtwistle cited the defense of Kelly Groff and Nikki Kummerer,who picked up 12 and 13 digs respectively as a major reason the Eagleswere able to run away to a 25-12 win in the second set. 

CourtneyReinhold, who played a smaller part in the opening two games as herteammates stepped up, announced her presence with authority to startthe third set. The sophomore All-American pounded four kills in thefirst eight points as the Eagles jumped to an early lead. Reinholdfinished with a match-high 14 digs and 12 kills.

Easterncontinued to push the Bulldogs with powerful serving and solid passing.Poole put away four kills in a six point span to put the game away latewith a 25-14 third set.

Sophomore setter Maria Horning continued to move the ball and the Eagles finished the match with a .429 hitting percentage. Horning kept the visitors on their toes as she put down six kills on eight attempts and finished with 39 assists. Birtwistle remarked, "Maria impresses us every match with not only her skill and leadership but in her decision making.  We passed really well tonight and she kept them guessing as to where the attack was coming from."

TheEagles (30-4) advance to the NCAA tournament for the tenth time in thelast eleven years. They advanced to the 'Sweet 16' in 2008. The NCAA Bracket will be announced on Monday morning.