Eastern University Volleyball jumped to an early 8-2 lead in the opening set and never looked back as they earned a decisive three set win over the visiting DeSales University Bulldogs in this evening's Freedom Conference Semifinal contest.

The top-seeded Eagles hit .467 on the way to a 25-12 first set win. Courtney Reinhold set the pace with six kills in the opening stanza. Mary Poole and Rachel Wenger had four kills apiece as the Eagles put down 17 kills.

"We came out strong," Eastern setter Maria Horning said after the match, "Tournaments like this past weekend make us play fast, and we have learned to be a step ahead." Horning, the three-time Freedom Conference Player of the Year, deferred much of the credit for the evening to the team's passing and defense. "Passing controlled the game today," she commented, "Because our passing was accurate, we were successful. Kelly [Groff] has been outstanding all year. She got balls up that looked like they were down. Her determination to get every ball motivates the rest of us."

The Eastern passing picked up another notch in the second set. The #8 Eagles pounded out an impressive 19 kills on just 29 swings for a .552 hitting percentage. Horning continued to set the ball to a number of spots, and on a number of occasions brought the home crowd to full voice with some well-disguised tips. Reinhold had five more kills in the second set.

Reinhold reached a significant career milestone early in the third set when she put down a kill early in a point for a side out. The smash to the center of the court was the 1500th kill of her career. She becomes the third Eastern player to reach that mark, and just the second to combine that number with 1000 digs. She finished the evening with match-highs in both catagories as she put down 16 kills and picked up 12 digs.

While Reinhold led the way, Mary Poole (11 kills) and Kearby Benak (10 kills) each hit over .500 for the match. Wenger added 10 kills as well. "Mary and I are in a really good rhythm on her slides," Horning said," She is putting the ball where she wants to, and that opens up the rest of the game."

"It wasn't really an objective," Horning said when she learned that the four hitters each reached double-figures in kills, " but in moving forward, we realize that the more evenly distributed the attack, the easier it is for all our hitters. It wasn't said by our coaches, but in my brain, it was a goal."

DeSales tied the third set at 9-9, but a five point run opened the match up again and the Eagles cruised to a 25-17 win in the final set. Kylie Fehnel paced the visitors with six kills, and Paige Horrigan and Haley Petrarca each added five.

The Eagles (28-4) advance to their 16th consecutive conference final. They will host the College at Florham Devils in a 6:00 p.m. game on Saturday November 6th. The winner of that contest will earn the Freedom Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.