ST. DAVIDS, Pa.- With a three-set win over Misericordia University, Eastern University Volleyball will return to a Conference Championship match for an 18th consecutive year. The Eagles hit a solid .311 and had four players post double-figure kills en route to the convincing win.

Sophomore outside hitter Lauren Sproles set the tone for the match with five kills on seven attacks in the opening set. Sproles finished the evening with 10 kills on 20 swings. eastern built a 7-1 lead to start the set and was efficient in the side-out game to hold on for 25-16 first-set win.

The second set belonged to Eastern's middles. With solid passing giving Rikki Schlager options, the first-year setter put the ball on the hands on sophomore Katrina Pisch and senior Rachel Wenger. Wenger was honored along with fellow senior Kelly Groff before the match. She put away five of her season-best 13 kills in the second set, and Pisch hammered home six kills on eight swings. She ended the evening with 12 kills and a .733 hitting percentage. The Eagles earned kills on 20 of the 25 points in the set. Schlager finished the match with 46 assists. The Eagles committed eight hitting errors in the second set, but still managed to win it 25-15.

Kearby Benak recorded eight of her 13 kills in a 25-19 win in set number three. Benak recorded a match-best 13 digs. The junior from Houston, Texas is now 24 kills short of 1000 for her career.

The Cougars hit .256 in the third set. Cat LaBrie had five of her eight kills in the set. LaBrie and Shelby Brochetti each had eight kills to lead the Cougars (18-15) in their final match of the year.

The No. 21 Eagles (27-5) advance to Sunday's Freedom Conference Championship match against DeSales University at 2 pm. The winner of that match will secure the Freedom Conference's automatic bid to next week's NCAA Tournament.

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