The annual two-day women's volleyball Eagle Classic will be held this Friday at the Dan and Ada Rice Center on the campus of Benedictine University. This year's classic features sixteen total matches, with eight on each day over four different time slots.
 
Matches get underway at 2:00 p.m. on Friday and 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. A full schedule of the event, as well as a tournament scoreboard and a link to live statistics of each match, is available here.
 
This year's event features eight schools: Benedictine, Bluffton University, Carthage College, University of Chicago, DePauw University, Elmhurst College, and North Central College.
  
Hosts of the event, the Eagles come into the tournament with just two wins over the last seven matches. BenU was victorious in its last matchup (a 3-1 win over Rockford University on Saturday), but fell just short of qualifying for the NACC Tournament, losing the tie-breaker to Marian University for the sixth and final seed. Benedictine has gone 4-4 in the Eagle Classic over the last two seasons (1-3 in 2013, 3-1 in 2012).
 Hailing from Ohio, the Beavers are members of the HCAC. Bluffton has a strong team this season after qualifying for last year's NACC Division III Tournament, winning the HCAC Tournament as a sixth seed. This season, the Beavers lead the HCAC in hitting percentage (.245), kills (1,356), and aces per set (1.97).
  
Ranked 17th in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association poll, the Lady Reds have been one of the region's strongest teams in 2014. Carthage has won four straight matches, with the last defeat coming in five sets to Loras College at the Wisconsin-Oshkosh Invitational last Friday. The team's other two defeats have come against Cornell College and UW-Stevens Point, schools that are either ranked or in the "others receiving votes" category of the latest AVCA poll. At last season's Eagle Classic, Carthage finished 3-1.
 The Maroons have been a perennial region power in recent seasons and are positioned to make a run at an NCAA Division III Tournament bid in 2014. Placed in the "other receiving votes" category of the latest AVCA poll, Chicago has dropped four of the last six matches and is just 7-7 over the last 14 matches after starting off the season 13-4. Statistically, the Maroons lead the UAA in digs (2,042) and aces (220). Chicago has qualified for the NCAA Division III Tournament in each of the last two seasons, advancing to the second round each time. Last season, the Maroons went 3-1 at the Eagle Classic.
  
Also receiving votes in the latest AVCA poll, the Tigers come into the tournament on a five-match winning streak. It has been a season of runs for the Tigers, as after starting 13-1, the team had a 5-6 stretch before the current winning streak. DePauw qualified for last year's NACC Division III Tournament, falling in the first round to Otterbein University in three sets. DePauw competed in last season's Eagle Classic, going 3-1 on the weekend.
  
The Stars have been a power in the NACC over the past few seasons, winning either the NACC Tournament Championship or at least a share of the NACC Regular Season Championship in four out of the past five years. This season, the Stars are unbeaten in conference play and have gone 18-4 since going 3-4 to start the season. Dominican has qualified for the NCAA Tournament in each of the last two seasons, falling in the first round both times.
  
Ranked 16th in the latest AVCA poll, the Bluejays have another strong team in 2014 after advancing deep into the NCAA Division III Tournament in each of the past three seasons. Elmhurst has gone 2-2 over the past four games, dropping games at tough CCIW schools in Carthage and Illinois Wesleyan University. The Bluejays played in last season's Eagle Classic, winning all four matches.
 After starting the season 14-2, the Cardinals have gone 4-9 over the last 13 matches. Competing in the tough CCIW, North Central has dropped five of six conference matches while also falling to AVCA-ranked non-conference schools in UW-Stevens Point and UW-Whitewater. In last year's Eagle Classic, the Cardinals went 2-2.