Eastern University Volleyball entered this weekend's Wid Guisler Invitational at Juniata College knowing that they would be tested. The #5 Eagles will play #4 Emory and #1 Juniata tomorrow afternoon. Before the match-ups with the top five teams, however, the Eagles had to pass a test against a solid but unranked Williams College team. Though they struggled with errors in the first and third games, Eastern used a strong service game and solid hitting in the other games to win 3-2.

Williams (16-8) battled back from an early deficit to take the first set 25-23. Courtney Reinhold put together an impressive string of five aces to help the Eagles to an early lead. Eastern dominated the second set from wire to wire with a decisive 25-8 win. After hitting just .162 in the opening set, Eastern hit .370 in te second. 

When it seemed that the Eastern squad had pulled things together, things disintegrated again in the third. Williams took advantage of the opening to win 25-21 and put the Eagles behind in set scores for just the third time this season. The Eagles committed seven hitting errors in the third set, and Williams hit .258.

Then, almost as quickly as things had fallen apart, the Eastern squad pulled things together with good passing and solid hitting in the fourth set. A 25-13 victory leveled the match at 2-2. Eastern played nearly error-free and hit .433 in the fourth set.

When it looked as though the Eagles had reached their peak, they raised their level again for a 15-4 win in the fifth set. Reinhold paced Eastern with 22 kills and a season-high 8 aces. Rachel Wenger finished with 10 kills and Kearby Benak added nine kills.

"When we served aggressively and attacked with intelligence," Head Coach Mark Birtwistle commented, "we were able to control the game. Williams had some terrific outside hitters. It was imperative that we play with controlled aggression to keep them in check." 

Birtwistle gave credit to his defense for their work in keeping points alive.Kelly Groff (13 digs) Nikki Kummerer (15 digs), and Kellee Stonelifer (13 digs) each did their work in the back row.

Maria Horning finished with 50 assists and 11 digs. Eastern will play #4 Emory, who beat #1 Juniata in the second match tonight, at 1:00 pm and Juniata at 5:00 pm. Those matches can be viewed online by clicking here.