HOBOKEN, N.J.– With a 3-0 win over the host Stevens Tech Ducks, Eastern University Volleyball advanced to the site fo the National Finals for the third time in the last six seasons. Senior outside hitter Alicia Weigel recorded her third double-double of the Regional Tournament and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Regional.

The Eagles (32-5) had control of the first set early, but the host Ducks scored four-straight points to go up 19-17 and force an Eastern timeout. Weigel put away a kill for the sideout and the Eagles scored a point on serve to tie the set at 19-19. The Ducks briefly grabbed control at 22-21, but Weigel put down consecutive kills to put the Eagles back in control.

After a Stevens' sideout, the Eagles answered with a Morgan Shemonski kill and Weigel put away her eighth kill of the match to give the Eagles a 25-23 win in the all-important first set. Weigel entered the contest with 983 career kills. She finished with 16 total kills to sit at 999 going into the National Quarterfinals this coming Thursday.

The Eagles hit .256 in the opening set and held Stevens to only .094. Stephanie Elechko had five kills in the opening set.

Stevens jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the second set. As they did in the Regional Semifinal, the Eagles rallied with Elechko back to serve. Eastern scored six-straight with Elechko at the line and pulled to within a point at 9-8. Elechko had a pair of aces in the run.

The set remained tight as both teams were efficient in their sideout games. It looked like Eastern had broken through when Sarah Roberts put away consecutive balls in a four-point run to put the Eagles up 23-20. Each team had a sideout and the Eagles served for the set up 24-21. The Ducks (33-6) fought back to tie the score at 24.

Elechko buried her second kill of the set for a sideout, and then Michelle Paulsen ended the set with a kill from the middle.

Even with eight hitting errors, the Eagles hit . 220 in the second set. Weigel had seven digs in the set to lead the Eastern defense.

Elechko started the third set with a thundering cross-court kill. As it had in the first two sets, the Eastern attack put away 17 kills, but the offense was able to eliminate errors and hit a sparkling .378 in the final set.

Midway through the set, Eastern scored five-straight with Elechko serving and pulled away to a 14-8 lead. The Ducks stayed close but were never able to close the margin to within two. Paulsen had a huge solo block to create match-point, and then Weigel put away her 999th career kill to start the Eastern celebration.

Elechko finished with 15 kills and 12 digs. Paulsen and Shemonski each added seven kills without a hitting error. The Eagles hit .282 for the match and Morgan Kline had 41 assists. Rylie Haas had a team-high 14 digs.

The Eagles will play the University of Northwestern (Minn.) at 3 P.M. on Tuesday in Oshkosh, Wisc.