Eastern University Volleyball will face a familiar opponent in an unfamiliar place to start open the NCAA Regional Tournament tomorrow at 3:00 pm. The Eagles will play at Babson College in Wellesley, Mass. against the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays. The two sides split their two earlier meetings this fall. Hopkins won at Eastern in five sets, and Eastern won at Juniata in three sets.

The winner of the Eastern vs. Hopkins match will play the winner of the match between No. 23 Bowdoin (27-1) and  Worcester State (23-10) in the Regional semifinal on Saturday.

Click Here for the Regional Page.

First Meeting: Sept 21

Eastern jumped out to a lead with a 25-20 win in the opening set, but Hopkins held the Eagles to negative hitting numbers int he second set to level the match. The Eagles battled to a 29-27 third-set win in front of very large and enthusiastic home crowd. The Blue Jays, who at that point in the year were unbeaten, claimed the fourth set in decisive fashion to set up the short fifth set.

Eastern built a quick 7-3 lead, but the Blue Jays, behind three kills from Lousia Kishton tied the match at 7-7. Eastern led 8-7 when the teams switched sides, but the big lead had disappeared and Hopkins seemed to have momentum. Cecilia Bauer served for a pair of points to put the Eagles up 11-9, but Hopkins again rallied. With Kishton serving, the Jays reeled off three points to grab a 13-11 lead. Hopkins earned a pair of sideout points to preserve the win.

Second Meeting: Oct. 20

Both Eastern and Hopkins came into the final match of the Wid Guisler Invitational at Juniata College with a pair of losses on the weekend. Eastern trailed 22-20 late in the opening set, but Caroline Shelby served for three points to put Eastern in control of the scoreboard. The Eagles closed out the set on a kill from Sammy Rogers.

The Eagles never trailed after the opening points of the final two sets to complete the sweep. Sarah Roberts led the Eastern attack with eight kills.

This weekend:
Both teams enter play on the heels of winning league titles. Hopkins beat McDaniel for a Centennial Crown and Eastern beat DeSales to win the MAC Freedom.

Live Stream and ticket information are available at the Tournament website.