The Misericordia University men's volleyball team advanced to the MAC Semifinals with a thrilling 3-2 win over Eastern, Tuesday night on Doc Mould Court.

The Cougars will travel to top-seeded Stevens, Thursday.

Benjamin Clendening led the Cougars with 13 kills and seven blocks  while Christopher U'Glay added 12 kills, three aces and three blocks.

Jackson Fehnel had 12 kills and 13 digs and Joe Kozak had four blocks.

Evan Schmidt had 27 assists and Andrew George had 24.

After taking the first sets, the Cougars dropped two straight and trailed 13-10 in the finale.  Following an Eastern service error, Isaac Griffin had a kill from the right side to get within 13-12.

Fehnel kept the next play alive near the left pin and the Cougars eventually earned the tying point on an Eastern attack error.

Eastern went back in front on an MU service error, but the Cougars scored three straight points to clinch the win.

Clendening tied it with a kill in the middle and Fehnel's smash down the left sideline put MU in front.  Griffin closed it out with a kill that deflected off a would-be blocker on the right side.

After Eastern jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the opener, the Cougars roared back and tied the score, 11-11, on back-to-back blocks by Kozak and U'Glay.

Down 14-11, the Cougars rattled off eight straight points to take a 19-14 lead.

Fehnel closed out a 25-19 win with a kill through a block attempt on the left side.

Fehnel's smash off an overpass capped a 4-0 run to give the Cougars a 13-6 lead in the second set.

Noah Reen's ace dipped inside the back line to key another 4-0 spurt to extend MU's lead to 19-9.

Fehnel scored MU's final two points in a 25-15 win.

The Eagles stayed alive with a 27-25 win and never trailed in a 25-21 win in the fourth set.

Kozak's middle smash and Fehnel's kill in the left corner gave MU a 7-4 lead in the finale.

Clendening and Reen combined for a block that dropped just inside the right sideline and Reen followed with an ace to give MU a 10-8 lead.

Eastern scored five straight points to set up MU's heroics.