ASTON, Pa.--Eastern University rallied to defeat Hiram College 25-23, 25-9, 20-25, 20-25, 15-13 Saturday night to advance to the NCAA "Sweet Sixteen" for the sixth time in school history.

After edging the Terriers in the first set and lambasting them in the second, the Eagles could not pin the Terriers down. The Terriers battled back and controlled most of the third and fourth sets. In the fifth set, Eastern Volleyball found itself backed into a corner, down 7-11. Coach Mark Birtwistle called timeout and the Eagles responded with two enormous kills by Courtney Reinhold. Hiram called a timeout to regroup and a few plays later, were only two points away from ending the season of the Eastern Eagles, the No. 4 team in the country. 

Two points away from elimination was not where the Eagles expected to find themselves Saturday night.

But there they were--the scoreboard read Hiram College 13; Eastern University 12.

Eastern libero Kelly Groff received the Hiram serve and bumped it towards Maria Horning. Horning had Katrina Pisch to her left and Courtney Reinhold to her right. Horning set the ball back and to the right to Reinhold who slammed the ball across the court and into the open back corner, tying the score at 13.

Reinhold then lined up to serve and took a deep breath. She fired a jump serve that dropped in between Hiram defenders for an ace--her second of the night. The Eagles went up 14-13, taking the lead for the first time since the opening point of the set. The tables had turned and the Terriers were forced to use another timeout.  After the timeout, Reinhold served again--this time a softer, playable ball to the middle. The ball went to Hiram's setter, Taylor Summerfield, who received it too close to the net. The official's whistle blew, signaling the violation. The Eagles earned the point and the match and lived to fight another day.

"I feel extremely proud of our team for being able to fight back," Maria Horning said. "That's incredible that a team can stick together and play with so much heart and belief in one another. We live to play another day, but that 'nother day's going to be a pretty tough one."

The Eagles take on No. 8 Juniata College at 4 pm Sunday for the regional championship and the right to play in the "Elite Eight" in St. Louis. Historically, Juniata College has had Eastern's number, defeating Eastern nine times in the past five seasons.

Courtney Reinhold, who led Eastern with 19 kills, praised her entire team for doing their part in this comeback. "I'm blown away right now," Reinhold said. "Everyone was working their hardest, and we pulled it out."

Kearby Benak and Lauren Sproles also reached double digit kills with 15 and 14, respectively.

Both Kelly Groff and Courtney Reinhold finished with at least 20 digs, Groff with 26 and Reinhold with 23. Reinhold increased her career digs total to 1,506, tying the school record. Groff increased her total to 1,437. Rachel Wenger had two huge block solos, a block assist and seven kills.

Through the five sets, Eastern outhit Hiram .261 to .160.

For the second time this season, the Eagles won a five-set match. With the win, the Eagles improve to 34-2.

Box Score

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