OSHKOSH, Wis.– Eastern University Volleyball dropped a five-set heartbreaker to the No. 18 University of Northwestern Eagles (34-4) in the NCAA Division III Quarterfinals. The No. 13 Eastern Eagles (32-6) won the second and fourth sets by identical 25-23 margins and led 9-5 in the fifth set before UNW rallied to take the final set 15-12. Sarah Roberts finished with fifteen kills and five blocks while hitting .464.

Northwestern put Eastern on the defensive from the beginning with a .321 hitting percentage in a 25-16 opening set win. Lindsey Peterson, the AVCA Division III National Player of the Year put down six of her match-high 24 kills in the opening set.

Eastern found a better offensive rhythm in the second set. Northwestern had worked to make life difficult for Eastern's outside hitters in the opening set, but Roberts started to get involved which freed up Stephanie Elechko and Alicia Weigel. Roberts had six kills and two blocks in leading the Eagles to a win in a set where neither team had a three-point lead. Eastern hit .273 in the second set.

Peterson put Eastern under a ton of pressure to start the third set. She had four kills in a stretch to help UNW jump out to a 10-4 lead. The six-point edge proved to be too much for Eastern to overcome. The Eastern Eagles cut the deficit to four on numerous occasions, but each time they did, the UNW Eagles had an answer. Eastern hit a scant .055 in dropping the set, 25-20.

"She's a fantastic player," Head Coach Mark Birtwistle said of Peterson. "We thought about backing our rotation up, but our block was doing a good job on her."

Birtwistle did make an adjustment to start with Katie Stenby serving in the fourth set. Stenby, playing in the back row for Weigel, served for three points for a quick lead, but UNW rallied to tie the set at 4-4 before Eastern went on a five-point run with Morgan Kline at the service line. As the match progressed, it looked as though Eastern had enough momentum to side-out the rest of the set, but UNW found a late three-point run to tie the set at 22-22.

Weigel hit a pair of kills off the UNW block and then found the floor with a third swing to force a fifth set. Weigel's only three kills in the fourth set came on the last three Eastern points.

"We had Katie in there to serve and to play defense," Birtwistle said after the match. "But it was also to try to preserve Alicia. She is dealing with all kinds of aches and pains and has battled." With her first kill of the day, Weigel became the 13th player in program history to reach 1000 kills. It is just the second time that classmates have done it. Elechko reached 1000 earlier this year.

The fifth set started out beautifully. Stenby again served the Eastern Eagles to three-straight points. Elechko put Eastern up 8-5 with her 587th kill of the season. The two teams changed ends, and Michelle Paulsen put away an inside ball to put Eastern up by four.

UNW got a side-out on a service error, and Peterson went back to serve. With their star in the back row, the UNW Eagles put together an eight-point run to flip the match. Morgan Shemonski put a ball down to stop the run, but UNW only needed a pair of sideouts to win the match. They were able to do that and to advance to a Final Four for the first time in program history.

Birtwistle had high praise for his seniors as leaders and players after the match. Rylie Haas is Eastern's career leader in digs and is the third four-time All-American in program history. She had 26 digs in the match. Elechko and Weigel also earned All-America Recognition this year.

Eastern had 221 attacks in the match. Their previous high total came in a five-set win over Emory when they had 175 attacks. Elechko finished with 17 kills and a career-high 18 digs. Weigel had nine kills and 10 digs. Paulsen added seven blocks to her single-season record. She also had eight kills.

Freshman setter Morgan Kline had 50 assists and 20 digs.

Peterson had 24 kills adn 27 digs and UNW libero Jackie Doering had 31 digs.

Eastern's three seniors are 124-25, with four MAC Freedom Championships, and two Elite Eight appearances.