FREDERICKSBURG, Va.—Eastern Volleyball head coach Mark Birtwistle became the 24th coach in NCAA Division III history to reach the 600 career win mark after the Eagles defeated the University of Mary Washington 25-18, 25-16, 25-23.

Coach Birtwistle, who began coaching in 1990 and as coached at Eastern his whole career, now has a career record of 600-199 (a .751 career winning percentage). In that span, coach Birtwistle has helped Eastern to 16 conference championships, eight NCAA regional finals and two elite eight appearances.

The 600th win came a game after the Eagles' first loss of 2014. The Eagles entered Friday ranked No. 11 nationally but fell to No. 19 Christopher Newport early Friday afternoon in four sets.

Senior outside hitter Erin Hillman led the Eagles Friday night with a .321 hitting percentage, recording 13 kills with four errors on 28 attacks.

As a team, Eastern hit .214 for the match and also compiled eight team blocks. Middles Stephanie Elechko and Katrina Pisch each had three block assists.

Setter Rikki Schlager followed up a 35-assist match against CNU with 33 assists against Mary Washington. Libero Rylie Haas was strong in both games, amassing 49 digs in the back row.

Eastern (5-1) continues in the Mary Washington tournament on Saturday with a 2 p.m. match against Geneva College followed by a 6 p.m. match with Randolph Macon.

Eastern's Box Score